Several former members of the banned Jama’at-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir have filed nomination papers to contest the Assembly polls in the Union Territory as independent candidates. Although Jama’at cannot participate due to a government ban, interest was shown during the Lok Sabha elections if the ban were lifted. Now, they are contesting independent, drawing criticism from opposition parties.
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NewsTranscript
00:00When you talk about Kashmir, you can't ignore the geopolitical scenario.
00:08This is a matter of honour and respect.
00:17I want to serve those who have no one to call their own.
00:22This is a war of democracy.
00:26You can't put people in jail, ban them, confiscate their property, lock them up in their institutions,
00:34ban the Jamaat. This is wrong.
00:36I say that not only should they take part, but the Government of India should also remove the ban on them.
00:42Do I suspect that it is New Delhi that is behind everything that is happening?
00:52And is it New Delhi that is breaking National Conference's vote?
00:58The entry of Jamaat-e-Islami in electoral politics has changed Kashmir's political landscape.
01:04Tell us, how important is the election for you?
01:08I was doing a job in the Government.
01:12I was in the Enquiry and Solidarity Lab.
01:16If you look at it, since 2008, when I started thinking about politics,
01:26especially when it comes to geopolitical scenarios,
01:32I thought that we should look at Kashmir's geopolitical scenario.
01:40From that day onwards, I thought that we should start political action.
01:48In 2014, I made a list of these things.
01:52I will keep these things in mind,
01:56I will make a list of these things.
02:02What do you think is the role of Jamaat-e-Islami in the elections?
02:06The biggest role of Jamaat-e-Islami is here.
02:08I will not say that it is their only role.
02:12The day I joined politics, I said that the people of Jamaat-e-Islami and Haryat Conference are also very important.
02:20Keeping all these things in mind,
02:24we will look at the geopolitical scenario.
02:28I use this term because we should look at it from a broad perspective.
02:34When you talk about Kashmir, you cannot ignore the geopolitical scenario.
02:40Did you return from Jamaat-e-Islami?
02:42I returned from Jamaat-e-Islami in 2014.
02:46Respect is in the hands of Allah.
02:52But I would like to appeal to the people.
02:56Look at what your conscience is saying.
03:02Who should vote and who should not vote.
03:06This is my appeal to the people.
03:08I have worked in education.
03:10I have taught thousands of children.
03:12I am a social reformer.
03:18I have dedicated my life to serving people.
03:26I thank all my friends.
03:30Are you fighting as an independent candidate?
03:32Yes, I am fighting as an independent candidate.
03:38I don't know what will happen.
03:42But whatever happens,
03:44all the people are ready.
03:46There will be a movement.
03:48There will be a campaign.
03:50There will be an atmosphere of change.
03:54My aim is to serve the people.
03:58I want to serve those who have no name.
04:04When Lok Sabha elections were held,
04:08everyone had a desire to win.
04:14When Lok Sabha elections were held,
04:16it was a clear and transparent election.
04:18This encouraged me.
04:22I decided at that time
04:24that I would enter the field.
04:26God willing, I will enter with great pride.
04:30Earlier, I used to go to the Ijtema of the Jamaat.
04:34Like other people used to go.
04:36Because I used to be very busy.
04:42I used to attend the Ijtema of the Jamaat.
04:48I used to attend the Ijtema of the Deobandi.
04:52Because my mind is Islamic.
04:54My mind has been Islamic since childhood.
04:56That's why I used to attend the Ijtema of the Jamaat.
05:00Those who know how to differentiate between right and wrong,
05:04and those who have the need,
05:06and have a good background in journalism,
05:10I think they will be an asset in our party.
05:14Like I said earlier,
05:16our party's vision,
05:18Mr. Mufti's vision,
05:20I think it will be very beneficial
05:22to spread it to the people.
05:24We have consulted with each other.
05:28We have a committee.
05:30We have an election committee.
05:32We want to bring more young people to the field.
05:36We want Mr. Sajjad Ahmad from Bandipora.
05:42I have a question.
05:44A lot of workers from the Islamic Jamaat
05:46are fighting the elections.
05:48What is your opinion on this?
05:50It is a very good thing.
05:52It is a war of democracy and ideology.
05:54You put people in jail,
05:56lock them up,
05:58confiscate their property,
06:00lock up their institutions,
06:02ban the Jamaat.
06:04This is the wrong way.
06:06I say not only should they take part,
06:08but the Government of India should also remove the ban.
06:10Mr. Ifrah, there seems to be a repeat of 1987 polls.
06:14This time it's not MUF,
06:16it's Jamaat-e-Islami contesting elections.
06:18What do you as a spokesperson
06:20of National Conference make out of it?
06:22It is not a repeat of 1987 polls.
06:24It's a repeat of 1977 polls.
06:28Because we saw a similar thing happen in 1977.
06:32When hundreds of political parties,
06:34I wouldn't say hundreds,
06:36but dozens of political parties
06:38decided to contest against National Conference.
06:40A lot of these political parties
06:42worked under the banner of,
06:44you had something called a Janta Party back then.
06:46So then you had,
06:48National Conference came out victorious
06:50and the victory was very formidable.
06:52Now, if you were to ask me specifically,
06:54how would I look at
06:56Jamaat-e-Islami contesting the elections?
06:58You see, it's not just Jamaat-e-Islami
07:00that has suddenly decided to contest elections.
07:02You have Jamaat-e-Islami
07:04are fielding candidates.
07:06You have reports coming that
07:08some ex-Hurriyat separatists
07:10may also be contesting elections.
07:12You have
07:14Sajjad Barkati Sahib's daughter
07:16also in the fray.
07:18You have more
07:20separatists, people who have had UAPA
07:22cases, for instance,
07:24Engineer Rasheed Sahib,
07:26whose entire party is now
07:28fielded candidates in
07:30almost as many constituencies as they could.
07:32So you have,
07:34you just don't have Jamaat-e-Islami
07:36fighting the elections.
07:38You have this entire spectrum
07:40of people fighting elections.
07:42I was reading some reports
07:44somewhere, somewhere said
07:46how would it be if
07:48Burhan Wani's father also contests elections?
07:50Now this was a very normal person
07:52asking a question. I have no such
07:54information whether this person is coming,
07:56fighting the election or not.
07:58What my point is that it's not just
08:00Jamaat-e-Islami. It's this entire
08:02spectrum of
08:04hundreds of people
08:06who have suddenly decided to come
08:08and fight the election.
08:10Especially at a point when
08:12if there is one thing
08:14we need, it is united,
08:16it is a united stand against
08:18the BJP government in Delhi.
08:20If there is one thing Jammu and Kashmir needs
08:22at this point, it is unity.
08:24If there is one decisive victory
08:26that the BJP can have, it will be
08:28a fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir.
08:30But do you believe that Jamaat candidates
08:32have been brought into
08:34this electoral fray
08:36just to split the vote
08:38on votes in the ballots
08:40under these
08:42traditional parties?
08:44Do I believe that Jamaat-e-Islami
08:46candidates have been brought
08:48into the fray simply to break the
08:50votes,
08:52so that the BJP
08:54can win and
08:56Kashmir vote
08:58can be fractured to ensure
09:00that BJP is able to consolidate
09:02its votes in Jammu? It's a very
09:04interesting question, but I would
09:06rather leave it for the people to decide.
09:08I would leave because there is something
09:10called the collective wisdom
09:12of the electorate. In the collective
09:14wisdom of the electorate, the electorate
09:16understands exactly what is
09:18going on. So what is the game
09:20going on here? I leave it
09:22to the people. People are very intelligent.
09:24We leave it to the people to decide.
09:26My last question is, do you believe that
09:28Engineer Rashid's victory
09:30has paved way for
09:32other people with
09:34separatist agenda
09:36to contest votes?
09:38Do you believe that? Do I believe that
09:40Engineer Rashid
09:42coming in, he surely
09:44did open
09:46that door. He surely, Engineer Rashid
09:48did show
09:50everybody that
09:54the alternatives to National
09:56Conference were not
09:58Apni Party and PC
10:00and other political parties, and
10:02that there could be other
10:06political parties that
10:08could do something, or that could
10:10at least, they may not be able
10:12to pull a decisive victory,
10:14but that could break the National
10:16Conference's vote, that could weaken
10:18this National Conference, and that
10:20could weaken the only formidable opposition
10:22that Jammu and Kashmir at this
10:24point has against the BJP. Yes, in
10:26that sense, I would agree with you.
10:28And do you suspect
10:30New Delhi is making an effort
10:32to weaken National Conference
10:34by floating these small parties
10:36and bringing these
10:38candidates to? Interesting
10:40question again. Do I suspect that
10:42it is New Delhi that is behind
10:44everything that is happening
10:46and is it New Delhi
10:48that is breaking National Conference's vote
10:50to ensure that National Conference
10:52is not able to put up a strong
10:54fight against Delhi in its
10:56pursuit for statehood and its longer
10:58pursuit to protect the jobs
11:00and land for people of Jammu and
11:02Kashmir. My answer again
11:04would be, I would rather answer this
11:06question, I would
11:08put a counter question as an answer to
11:10this question. I would say if
11:12this was, so the question that
11:14you are asking is, is this organic
11:16or is this parachuted?
11:18My question is, if
11:20it were organic, why
11:22is this not happening in Jammu?
11:24This is the only, maybe you can
11:26come up with a good answer and you can convince
11:28me that I am wrong, but if it
11:30was organic, why do we not
11:32have all these people coming in
11:34and saying we want to fight the election from Jammu?
11:36Why is all of this
11:38happening in Kashmir? The moment
11:40you give me a credible
11:42rational answer to this question
11:44maybe I would say all
11:46the fears that you have expressed
11:48are null and void.
11:50Will the Jamaat contestants be able
11:52to split the vote bank of traditional
11:54parties and make their way to
11:56the JNK Assembly? It will
11:58only be known once the verdict
12:00is out on October 4th.
12:02With Cameraperson Irfan Shah,
12:04Izhar Ali in Srinagar for One
12:06India.