Non involvement of youth in J&K Politics
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Non involvement of youth in J&K Politics

The non involvement of people especially youth in J&K’s electoral process can impact on the quality of democratic governance

Post by on Sunday, October 31, 2021

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While youth in Jammu and Kashmir are often involved in informal political Processes, social activism or civic engagement, they are not formally represented in State political institutions such as assembly or in Parliament at national level and many of them do not even participate in electoral democratic processes.

The non involvement of people especially youth in J&K’s electoral process can impact on the quality of democratic governance. The inclusion of youth in J&K politics is important, as the recently held Panchayat and DDC elections have demonstrated and is a lesson to be learnt from.

Fresh ideas and young leadership can help to overcome the authoritarian practices or from a particular family rule. Youth-led protests have forced regimes from power to induct youth concerns in their agendas too and a significant frustration is likely to arise if youth are not included in new formal decision-making. The youth induct is must as in absence it can destabilize democratization and accelerate conflict dynamics.

The international community including Turkey and Palestinian leadership have recognized the importance of youth participating in political systems, including through several international conventions and UN resolutions. And in line with the commitments, Jammu Kashmir People’s Conference views youth as a positive force for transformative social change, and aims to help enhance youth political participation. When participating in democratic electoral processes is ‘halal’ in countries like Turkey and Pakistan, how come it becomes ‘haram’ when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir?

The basic principle is that support for the political participation of young people should extend across countries and States for the electoral cycle. Recently held Panchayat and DDC elections gave a conformity that young candidates have the ability for the development and prosperity in the J&K. Their participation has proven to be more effective as a continuous effort of bringing new faces in the politics arena. Participation of younger generation in electoral processes actively in their communities likely makes them more engaged citizens and voters.

Boycott is a problem and not a solution: Overpowering or boycotting the other has been a constant strategy of all protagonists in Jammu and Kashmir. There is urgent need to end dynast politics in Jammu & Kashmir. The conflict entrepreneurs who encash this conflict for their vested interests will never want youth to participate and every time during elections, run a campaign on fake handles for boycott, paving the way for political dynasts to have their say on election days. We should be aware of all such vested interests and their nefarious designs to dominant the youth empowerment and their participation in legislations and processes.

Youngsters need to think out of box. They have emerged as rising hope who are challenging the political dynasties in the J&K. Over past years, the youth being a stakeholder on peace and developmental aspect has been comprised to a large extent and now times have changed and so the polity of the Jammu and Kashmir.

The caravan of change is happily welcoming the entrants for the larger good of Jammu and Kashmir. We are committed to unroll the mistakes that previous regimes have done under the influence of corruption and nepotism. Our younger generation should think that their trust has been always compromised by the dynast parties in J&K. Boycotting a democratic electoral process can never be a solution. Yousuf shah, SAS Geelani, Mirwaiz South Kashmir, Dr Qazi Nisar and other participated in 87 elections. If participation in election at that time was ‘halal’, how can it become ‘haram’ to participate in elections now? We need to ponder over.

However, the problems and socio-political demands of young people have often been treated as a ‘non-urgent’ or ‘scarcely important’ matter. But now the young Kashmiris are beginning to demand an overhaul of the systems they live by and are capable of acting as force to transform Kashmiri politics.

Instead of supporting the dynast politics, youth of Jammu and Kashmir are coming together under the influence of old party which is now technologically innovative, inclusive and a big platform i.e. Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference. The platform do not operate alongside the conventional socio-political fault lines of UT, such as secularism-Islamism, Left-Right, or Hindu-Muslim. Instead the platform hopes for and actively provides a safe space where people can explore, debate, and negotiates these conventional cleavages to rethink their configurations.

We have always stressed and will be vocal on a commitment that we are not dominated by political polarization and the vocabulary accompanying it. We have a great focus on reaching out to people, the problems of the youth and their vision for the future.

Given the parameters of the current system in J&K, we are reaching out to youngsters or to those who have been left as untouchables by the previous regimes. Each conflict entrepreneur in Jammu and Kashmir attempts to address the youth only to line up new cadres of vote-casting citizens behind their political agendas. But the case with PC (People’s Conference) is different. Our leader Sajjad lone always sees young as stakeholders and not as a liability. He sees the future of J&K through the prism of young participation in electoral processes.

It is true that youngsters have suffered a lot under the dynastic authoritarian-conservative rule. Almost unanimously, youth think that the causes of the major problems in Jammu and Kashmir are its local politicians. Most young people think that dynastic political actors cannot solve J&K’s problems because they actually created them and have encashed from those problems.

Instead of offering young people a participatory political space in which one can voice their demands or providing them with solutions, J&K’s dynastic political class just continues to send sympathetic and condemnation messages, which fall on deaf ears.

Kashmiri youth have long been depicted as non participatory, but they just have a different approach to politics. Their criterion is not governed by the dominant political set-up of Jammu and Kashmir like BJP, NC and PDP. They need a stable socio-political system that does not ignore the uneducated youth and one that ensures civil and political liberties.

However, it must be underlined that young people are also game changers as Sajjad lone, who had a vote share of more than 1 lakh in last parliamentary elections and won the historical victory against political elites in North Kashmir in last assembly elections have attracted more young people to join the Caravan of Change.

Peoples Conference, a platform for unheard, voiceless and youngsters is becoming a shining platform among the youth through the different political articulation. Let’s join hands to take Jammu and Kashmir out of the mess. Let’s join hands to become an agent of change. Let’s join hands with PC.

 

(The author is President, Jammu and Kashmir Youth People’s Conference)

 

Box: Peoples Conference, a platform for unheard, voiceless and youngsters is becoming a shining platform among the youth through the different political articulation

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