“It’s good these people are in jail,” a fruit seller shared his frustration, keeping his shop open despite a lowered shutter in response to the lockdown called on by the separatists. The year was 2019, precisely a month after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government announced the abrogation of Article 370, and “these people” in question were the leaders of Jammu & Kashmir’s regional parties: the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Five years later, these very people are not just out of jail, but some of them are also set to form the government in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 

The world can draw an essential lesson from what has transpired in Jammu & Kashmir in the last five years. And this lesson has nothing to do with the polling outcome. Despite the previous unstable assembly (the BJP opted out of the ruling PDP-led coalition), the geopolitical turmoil in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, and the controversy around delimitation, Jammu & Kashmir chose democracy yet again.

Democracy As A Lived Reality

When an insurgency or an armed conflict continues for too long, democracy is the first to fall. Increased securitisation of a conflict-ridden space undermines democracy not just as a political philosophy concept but also as an everyday lived reality. Political alienation is often the beginning and the end of a conflict. It is also the means and the end of most insurgencies. Secessionists in Jammu & Kashmir, therefore, leaned on boycotts of political processes in the region. These boycotts were successful in forging a sense of identity, delinked from New Delhi, in a section of Jammu & Kashmir’s population.

Jammu & Kashmir’s voter turnout in 2024 has fallen marginally short of 2014. Still, considering the political and security volatility during the past decade, the political remapping of the region, and the trends from the 2024 general election turnout, the absolute figure of 63.88% is a big round of applause for Indian democracy. Not only were the calls for boycotting the elections negligible, but voters also didn’t even think twice before ignoring them. The pre-poll sentiment in Jammu & Kashmir was defined by buoyancy and optimism.

Reigniting Faith

Participation in electoral processes should not be seen as an indicator of peace in Jammu & Kashmir or any other conflict-riddled region. Democracy does not suit all, and efforts to derail it are the strongest whenever it appears to work and emerge as a choice. For peace, the synergy of formal institutions is a prerequisite. The BJP has done well to reignite people’s faith in at least one of them: electoral polity. Jammu & Kashmir, under the governor’s rule for six years, grabbed this chance to assert itself and make its voice heard in New Delhi. The JKNC-Congress alliance has trumped religious extremism-driven parties on the one hand and heavy-handed nationalism on the other.

After almost a decade of aggressive and kinetic strategy in dealing with the hardliners in J&K, this is a perfect moment for the Indian establishment to rethink its attitudes towards conflict resolution. The temptation to discard democracy as a defunct system is at its highest during an armed conflict. But this is also the time when democracy can shine the brightest. A rights-based approach to conflict resolution may appear counter-intuitive, but this is the only lasting solution. The rejection of the right to vote by a dissatisfied bunch of people as a means of their political expression can be the first sign of trouble. The converse is also true.

This Is True ‘Normalcy’

The BJP may not feel warm and fuzzy about the assembly poll results, but New Delhi has all the reasons to rejoice. This is what ‘normalcy’, an oft-touted catchword of the current dispensation, looks and feels like. This almost violence-free election is the festive bonus that everyone hoped for, but nobody could have been sure of it. Reams will be written about the “success” of this election within the security paradigm. However, the real success is allowing the decriers of democracy to come into the fold. After long periods of violence and quasi-violence directed primarily against the Indian state, this election is an affirmation of the core principles of participatory democracy. 

No political system, even the good old democracy, can and should be treated as the panacea for all ills. At best, democracy can achieve an environment where people who are affected by policies feel like stakeholders. This precludes compulsive resistance and fosters a sense of ownership. Jammu & Kashmir’s ‘problem’ is both a function and an origin of political alienation and disempowerment. Increased participation on the population’s part and more open-mindedness on the part of the establishment during political processes help create a secure environment that doesn’t rely solely on securitisation.

What and how Jammu & Kashmir’s political arena will look like with a government in place after six years of Governor’s rule remains to be seen. For now, these lessons of democracy are for all to see and emulate. 

(Nishtha Gautam is a Delhi-based author and academic.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Jammu:

After People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti expressed unhappiness over the National Conference’s decision to contest all three Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir, NC President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said both parties are part of the INDIA coalition. He asserted that his party would win all three seats in Kashmir for the alliance.

Mehbooba Mufti had on Friday said that the NC’s decision was “disappointing” and a “setback to the hopes of the people of J&K”. She also accused the NC of reducing their Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to a “joke”.

“I do not know what she (Mufti) had said… National Conference stands on its own feet and has won three seats (in the 2019 general elections). We are part of the alliance and she is also part of the alliance. If the National Conference wins (these seats) again, they will win it for the INDIA alliance and so what is the problem,” Mr Abdullah told reporters here.

The NC leader said he is sure that the INDIA alliance will always grow because it is needed “for the future of India and democracy”. He said that “everybody wants a secular India where we all can live in peace, harmony and progress”.

“India is for all. India is not Pakistan. The Constitution of India was framed on the lines that we are all one. How does it matter what religion you follow, what language you speak and what your culture is? It is a united India,” he said.

Asked about Mehbooba Mufti’s remarks on PAGD, he said assembly elections are coming and “we will see what we will do. I am sure they (BJP-led government) will try to hold the assembly polls with parliamentary elections.”

The NC has announced the party would contest the three seats in Kashmir valley and asked the Congress to contest the two seats in the Jammu region. The party also said there would be a consensus candidate of NC and Congress on the Ladakh seat.

Jammu and Kashmir has five Lok Sabha seats, while Ladakh has one. In the last elections, while the NC won the three seats in Kashmir, the BJP won the two Jammu seats as well as the lone Ladakh seat.

On PAGD, Ms Mufti had said on Friday that it was “difficult to see the unity break”.

“I regret that what we nurtured for five years has been shattered,” she said. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that had the NC leadership discussed the issue with her, the PDP could have let the NC contest on all three seats in the valley.

However, she said the PDP was still a part of the INDIA bloc and the party would discuss the future strategy with the Congress.

Asked about the formation of a new government in Pakistan and its possible approach towards India, Mr Abdullah on Saturday said Islamabad has to decide whether it wants peaceful relations with India or not.

“What Pakistan does, is their problem. It is their nation and it is for them to decide whether they want to live in peace with our nation or they don’t want to live in peace.

“Kashmir was acceded to India by Maharaja Hari Singh and that accession is even today and that will last forever,” he said, adding, “We are part of India and there is no problem for us. It is for them to decide what they want to do.”

To a query on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statement likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Adolf Hitler, he said, “I do not know what he had said and under what conditions”.

“He (Modi) is not a Prime Minister of the BJP. People who voted for him are just 37 per cent but once one becomes a Prime Minister, he represents every Indian. He also represents 1.4 billion when he goes outside the country.

“He represents Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and every other religion, and those who have no religion,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)