Blog | Understanding Jailed Leader Engineer Rashid's Win In Kashmir

The increased participation in the Lok Sabha elections in Kashmir is being celebrated as a historic feat against the Valley's troubled history of frequent poll boycotts. The turnout in the latest election is an indication of reposed faith in democracy as people exercised their constitutional right without fear.

This was the first major election after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, and it meant different things for different people, based on which side of the political divide they were on. 

Rashid Defeats Omar Abdullah, Sajad Lone

The Baramulla result, for instance, has triggered a fierce debate about whether the record turnout was a reflection of simmering discontent. Jailed leader Engineer Rashid registered a stunning victory here as an Independent, defeating former chief minister Omar Abdullah by over 2 lakh votes. Sajad Lone of the People's Conference was pushed to a dismal third position, while Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate could garner just 2% votes.

The question on everyone's mind right now is, how did Rashid, who has been in Tihar jail for the last five years under terror-funding charges, manage to trump some of the biggest political leaders in Kashmir? Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are around the corner - they are likely to be held before the September deadline set by the Supreme Court - and Rashid's victory is believed to have an impact beyond north Kashmir.

Rashid has secured 4.72 lakh votes. Among them, nearly 3,000 have come from security forces. Thus, a terror accused has won not just a landslide victory, but he has also managed to secure considerable support from the armed forces, police and paramilitary personnel of the Baramulla constituency.

There is a debate over whether Rashid's victory will empower secessionists and whether it reflects a "vote for resistance".  Omar Abdullah has also jumped into the controversy. Ironically, he had faced similar charges just a few years ago, when he was detained under the Public Safety Act in 2020 over allegations of radicalism. The dossier had cited his "influence on the public and his ability to garner votes even during peak militancy and poll boycotts" as grounds for detention.

Not New To Controversies

Engineer Rashid, a two-time MLA from Langate, is not new to controversies. He is seen by many as a loose canon who wishes to be on the right side of the political narrative but has also effectively engaged people to curb stone-pelting and gun culture in the Valley. In 2010, when Kashmir was facing its worst civilian unrest, Langate had remained largely peaceful. Rashid would encourage youth to resolve that they would never pick up a gun or turn to militancy. For this, he was hailed by even local army units, which he had long fought against over issues like forced labour near the Line of Control. 

In the pre-2019 culture of Kashmir, where a certain ecosystem defined the moral compass of its people and politics, Engineer Rashid had even been dubbed a security 'agent'.  So much so that when the Gupkar Alliance was formed, he and his Awami Itihad party (AIP) were not deemed worthy enough to be part of the grouping to fight against the abrogation of Article 370.

The huge mandate for Rashid, however, is not a sudden windfall or merely a sympathy vote on account of his incarceration. The leader had already created a niche for himself, and if it were not for the poll boycott in 2019, he might even have won the Baramulla seat back then. 

How To Read Rashid's Victory

The election this year saw strong whistle-stop campaigning by Rashid's two sons, who in the weeks ahead of the elections pressed home the "jail ka badla vote se" (revenge for jail with votes) slogan, borrowed from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after Arvind Kejriwal's arrest. While the slogan didn't help AAP much in Delhi, for Rashid's campaign, it became a rallying cry. In fact, his son Abrar recently said it took him a campaign worth just Rs 27,000 - in fuel charges - to defeat a former chief minister. Rashid's common-man image also helped him.

With assembly polls just months away, the groundswell of support for a jailed politician could not have come at a trickier time. Regional parties are unnerved. Rashid's possible release from jail may shape a new political reality on the ground. For many who see his victory as a revival of separatism, a visit to Langate would show why Rashid enjoys such wide support for curbing stone-pelting and violence in his constituency long before the Centre began its crackdown.

(Nazir Masoodi is NDTV's Srinagar Bureau Chief.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal views of the author