Kashmir: The mock election
By Zafar Iqbal
The democracy can be a
democratically agreed form of tyranny and oppression. Robert Young was true in
his depiction of such societies where the minority has no legitimate political
means of resistance against the tyranny of the majority. An awful demonstration
of such political autocracy could be seen in Pakistan administrated part of
Kashmir, where three million citizens of the one half of the divided state are
going to exercise a democratic right of electing their representatives in the
Legislative Assembly in a few weeks. In reality, this political process is no
more than a tug-of-war between local influential feudal tribes and aristocratic
family structures in the pretence of democracy to retain their authority and
control over the resources of the land.
Furthermore,
there are a number of constitutional, administrative and executive regulations
and conditions that question the legitimacy of such electoral process from
human rights perspective. The Constitution
of the region which governs the electoral process is itself in contradiction to
democratic and parliamentary norms because, according to its critics, it lacks
the authenticity and legitimacy because of its controversial promulgation.
The
critics of this constitution opine that this was conceived by a few un-elected
people, and was not approved by a lawful democratic elected institute. Article
7(2) of this constitution says “no person or political party in Azad Jammu and
Kashmir shall be permitted to propagate against or take part in activities
prejudicial or detrimental to the ideology of the State’s accession to
Pakistan.” This clause mercilessly suffocates the freedom of expression and
restricts the liberty of association, which are basic human rights and
considered as injections of democracy.
Majority
political parties taking part in mock election never bothered to have any
elections within their own ranks. Despite educating the public opinion through
any manifesto or election program, they rely on filthy accusations over their
rivals and immoral tactics to bag people’s sympathies and grab the power.
Ironically, in more than one dozen constituencies either sons or fathers are
contesting in election or nominees of three major political parties belong to same
family, perhaps unchallengeable strongholds for powerless locals.
The
decisive role of government of Pakistan through Ministry of Kashmir affairs and
Jammu and Kashmir Council and other state organs, has become a straightforward
and inevitable practice of power game in Pakistan part of Kashmir since the
independence in 1947. Ideologically
pro-military and Islamabad party of the region, Muslim Conference continued to
play a key role in the configuration of government structure through its
Working Party by nominating the
president of the area. In other words, a political entity, whom former head
Choudhary Ghulam Abbas, was amongst the harsh opponents of democratization,
continue to decide the destiny of masses
without any democratic endorsement till many years.
The citizens of state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir had to
wait for almost four decades to exercise their right of vote when in 1960 first
election of ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir State Council’ were held on
its 24 seats in the absence
of any constitutional framework. And in
1974, the
system of adult franchise was adopted and a democratic setup was
introduced through Azad Jammu and
Kashmir Interim Act, 1970, however, after four years the Interim Act, shifted
the balance of power from locals to the
government of Pakistan, which can dissolve the local assembly through its
unchallengeable legal powers. Such authoritarian and discriminatory measures have not
only cultivated grievances among local
people , but also badly hindered the pace of
development due to lack of
representation of AJK region
in mainstream resource
distribution mechanisms of Pakistan
governance like the NFC award, IRSA,
federal cabinet and so on.
Now
as the change is due constitutionally in AJK, the federal government is all set
to apply its tested manoeuvres to install a mock democratic setup in
Muzaffarabad. The PPP led-government of Pakistan has allegedly distributed Rs.
50 lacs each among its candidates in order to ensure their victory in the
election by rewarding the voters. The electoral lists, which are considered the
essence for a just and impartial election, have been highly criticised for
being bogus and packed with gross errors.
Moreover,
the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which sucked mercilessly 50 billion
rupees funded by the international community for the rehabilitation of the
damaged infrastructure of quake-hit region of Kashmir, is being generously
distributed among party supporters for political gains. The chairperson of
Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM), a charitable body of the government of Pakistan,
has also campaigning in public meetings of candidates backed by the federal
government.
Furthermore,
making the mockery of election rules, the incumbent prime minster, who is also
a candidate in coming election, is running his election drive by travelling on
helicopter fuelled by the tax payers’ money. Local press is full with the news
and images of electricity poles, water pipes and other developmental incentives
confiscated from candidates of the ruling Muslim Conference.
No doubt, election is lifeline of democracy, a futile
exercise of election may not bring any democratic change in a society
overburdened with a multitude of issues. In the absence of a fair, impartial
and just electoral mechanism in this region sustainable peace and democracy
seems to be a distant dream.
(The writer is a freelance journalist and
commentator from Pakistan Administrated Kashmir. He could be accessed at: zafarjournalist@gmail.com
)