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Sheela Bhatt in Chadoora, Budgam
It was fun time, with music, masti (enjoyment), and junoon (passion).
September 22, last date for campaigning in Budgam district, which goes to the polls on Tuesday, September 24, was hard to believe for non-Kashmiris who usually have a stereotyped image of the valley.
Is Kashmir really the 'hottest flashpoint in South Asia'? You wouldn't have believed so if you had been in Chadoora on Sunday.
More than 50 handsome young men were dancing in small groups while sharp-nosed, fair girls were giggling and clapping. A boy with a dholak was singing loudly:
Amma, Amma kya banaya? (Mum, what have you cooked?)
"Rajma dal," his rapturous friends responded.
"Ali Dar ko pahunchaya aspatal!" (Ali Dar's been sent to hospital)," another group of boys joined the chorus.
Bystanders and womenfolk clapped.
The ruling National Conference has renominated Ali Mohammed Dar, member of the outgoing assembly, for the election. But this crowd at least did not seem to be in the mood to vote him in again.
More than 7,000 people had crowded the lanes and bylanes of Chadoora town and were heading for the open ground. Even Mehbooba Mufti, one of the stars of the 2002 assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir and a leader of the People's Democratic Party, was stranded in her bulletproof car on the dusty, dirty roads.
Mehbooba was wearing a scarf tucked in her hair with a safety pin and an abaya (a long, loose gown) over her salwar kameez, standard gear for her in this season of campaigning. The only concession to modernity was her footwear --- sports shoes. "I have to walk a lot," she explained. "I make it a point to visit every victim's home, however far it may be."
Since the last six years, visiting the families of the victims of terrorism in the Kashmir Valley has been the one- point programme that has got Mehbooba thus far. For the elders, she is "Muftisaab's daughter". For youngsters, however, her convent education, her legal degree, and her politically correct attitude are more than enough.
Her party, the PDP, is considered a sure gainer in this election. The party's candidate, Javid Mir, had organised the last public meeting in Chadoora before the closure of the campaign.
Asif, a college student, was part of the crowd. He remarked, "Dar doesn't know what's a computer! How can he rule us?"
Mohammad Latif, a resident of the town, said, "Dar has studied up to the eighth standard. Now, Kashmiris don't want an 'under-matric' candidate."
The crowd was in the mood to talk and talk. Ghulam Malik said loudly, "Hindustan ka paisa loot liya NC ne. [The National Conference has looted India's money.]"
At this anti-NC rally in an area not severely affected by the militancy, people were talking about just one issue: development.
Malik held my wrist and forced me to take note. "Ask NC politicians what you have given the widows of Kashmir," he said. "What have you given the destitute children of Kashmir? Now we are not ready to sleep hungry."
Another resident said with folded hands, "Hindustan and Pakistan, please live in harmony and don't commit atrocities on us. We have enough of our own problems."
Malik responded: "We will tackle India and Pakistan later. Let us handle our guys [the ruling party] first, who never made roads, never gave us power, and only cared for the rich."
A farm labourer Latif said, "Farooq Abdullah's men have siphoned off money from the J&K Bank. We will never vote for him again. The Abdullah family goes to the Centre and uses our pain to blackmail India and get crores of rupees. But we don't get a penny."
And what about their grievances with New Delhi?
Mohammad Malik was cool. "We don't want guns," he said. "We want money."
This is a clear advantage for Mehbooba Mufti and her party. Before 1996, she preferred to sit at home. But after contesting her first election that year, she has not looked back.
Mehbooba is on the campaign trail relentlessly. Six years of hard work are coming to a climax. Though she is not spelling out a figure, sources in her PDP claimed that they are hoping to win at least 20 of the 87 seats in the state assembly.
"I have worked very hard," the PDP vice-president said. "I talk straight. Kashmiris want peace with dignity. They want to take back the militants into their family. But they don't want uneasy questions to be asked of their boys like 'what did you gain after all'?"
The Kashmiris want to be left in peace, the former Union home minister's daughter said. "How do we get out of this bloodshed with our dignity intact? That's our election plank.
"Second, we are talking about development. I talk about the Indira Awas Yojana (a central government scheme to build houses for the poor) and the Below Poverty Line scheme to supply food to the poorest of the poor. Both are not available to poor Kashmiris in the hills."
Her party slogan is "Grenade se na goli se, baat banegi boli se. [Only talks will work.]"
Observers say Mehbooba has been quite a match to Omar Abdullah, the savvy National Conference president and chief ministerial candidate. She entertains the public by ridiculing Omar, his father and Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, and their party.
In Kangan town, for instance, she said, "Farooq will come to you to beg for votes. He will then make goshtaba [meatballs] of your favour and serve it to his son. When a widowed woman goes to him for a job, he says he doesn't have money. But he spent Rs 15 crore on his son's coronation. From where did he get this kind of money? This is your money!"
Her parting shot: "Make sure this government lasts only till October 14."
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba's father, launched the PDP three years ago. The father-daughter duo is now exploiting their party's regional appeal. The PDP does not have a structure, cadres, or even enough candidates. But it is still drawing crowds only because the undercurrent against the lack of governance of the ruling party is quite strong.
But ask Mehbooba if she sees power closer today and the smart politician remarks: "I see peace quite close."
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