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Kashmir BJP leaders hoped Article 370 would boost careers — but they’re still in hiding

BJP leaders have been in hiding since 2018 polls for contesting despite a militant boycott call. Now, revocation of Article 370 has added to the anger against them.

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Srinagar, Anantnag: Farooq Khan, a BJP worker in Srinagar who had learnt the “real teachings” of the Quran from Parliament attack mastermind Masood Azhar in a Jammu jail, finds himself at a crossroads today.

A dreaded commander of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen once, he had joined the BJP last year. Khan had unsuccessfully contested the local body elections in October last year and was hoping for a lift to his fledgeling political career when his party-led government in Delhi defanged Article 370.

Farooq Khan | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Farooq Khan | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

But now under threat from the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Farooq doesn’t even find it safe to visit his wife at home, barely three kilometres from where he now stays.

“The last time I went home, some neighbours paid me a visit. They were very angry with me as a BJP man. I offered them tea but they declined,” he told ThePrint. “Kashmiri zakhmi hai, hamein malham ki zaroorat hai (Kashmir is injured, needs a balm).”

Farooq is among a large number of BJP workers in the Valley who have been in hiding since the local body elections. While anger against them has intensified on the streets since the invalidation of Article 370, they have now been joined in hiding by hundreds of other BJP workers following the Modi government’s decision.

The party headquarters in Srinagar has also been heavily fortified, manned now by J&K police and CRPF personnel with concertina wires put up on the walls. There is no Indian or BJP flag anywhere nor are there party workers or leaders.


Also read: Narendra Modi has chosen the BJP’s interests in Kashmir over the national interest


Gains in local body polls but leaders in hiding

The BJP, though strong in Jammu, has never had a significant presence in the Valley. After it formed a coalition government with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in early 2015, its acceptability increased, albeit only marginally.

The party could never open its account in the Valley that sent 47 members to the erstwhile state legislature but in the local body elections, boycotted by the National Conference and the PDP, about 125 panches and 103 councillors from the BJP won.

They have, however, all been staying in different guesthouses and hotels in Srinagar since then for fear of the militants who had given a boycott call.

One of them is Manzoor Ahmed, a panch from Budgam district. Called “Modiji” in his village, he has been staying in a guesthouse in Srinagar since winning. He occasionally visits his family but he feels more insecure after the nullification of Article 370.

Ahmed says he had gone home a few days ago to take his daughter to a doctor but a group of youngsters stopped his scooter. Timely intervention by some elders prevented any untoward incident. “I don’t think we can start political activity for another six months,” he told ThePrint.

‘BJP will bounce back’

Mohammad Siddiq Khan, head of minority wing of the state BJP, also sees no political activity in the next six months. He stays adjacent to the party office inside the heavily guarded Police Colony at Khanabal in Anantnag district, 60 km south of Srinagar.

Siddiq Khan | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
Siddiq Khan | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

On Saturday, when Khan ventured out of the colony to get a shave, he instructed his PSO (personal security officer) to stay in civil dress and not carry his gun. The sight of a gun could provoke people, he sensed. His wife has undergone a surgery in Sohra, about 75 km from there, but he can’t visit her.

BJP office in Anantnag | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
BJP office in Anantnag | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Khan is, however, confident that the party will bounce back.

“A slap of truth is better than thousands of galatfehmi (falsehood),” he said, defending the Centre’s decision on Article 370 and calling it a “khukh (scarecrow)” that kept investors and entrepreneurs away from the Valley. There are about 4.5 lakh BJP workers in the valley, he claimed.

State BJP general secretary Ashok Kaul visited the Valley last week and held discussions with around 50 grassroots workers, including village panches and councillors. His message was: “Sit tight and wait.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisages a day when Kashmiri youth will come forward to replace the current lot of ‘corrupt’ politicians and become MLAs and ministers.

“I want to clarify that your representative will be chosen only by you, the same way you have chosen your MLAs, MPs, cabinets, and chief ministers. We all will together combat and rid this region of terrorism and separatism,” he had said in his first address, since his abrogation, on 12 August.

“We all want fresh elections to take place, a new set of ministers, and chief minister. I assure you that you will get an opportunity to elect your representatives very soon with full transparency in the same manner that you have chosen your panchayat representatives.”

The plight of BJP leaders and workers in Kashmir, however, indicates it’s going to be a long-drawn process.


Also read: New governor is ‘our man’ — Jammu & Kashmir BJP president caught boasting in video


 

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2 COMMENTS

  1. So a guy trained by a terrorist joins the BJP, the party with a difference. The height of hypocrisy. The BJP obviously has no face to show in the Valley. Time alone will tell if Modi has played a master stroke with the abrogation of 370, or it will be his waterloo.

  2. These are collaborators traitors, informants,
    They will get their comeuppance, wait and see.
    They know it, it’s best they go to Nagpur

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