BJP confident about its prospects in J&K Assembly polls

Riding high on the recent changes that took place in the Valley after the abrogation of its special status, BJP is confident of immense public support in future polls

If there is one single political party that is looking forward most to the Assembly polls likely to be held in Jammu and Kashmir in the near future, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party. The mood of the party is upbeat.

Observers say the saffron party is on a strong wicket. It is likely to get the support of common people whenever the Assembly polls are held in the union territory. With the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, a development which could be possible only because of the party-led government at the Centre, the day to day life of the average person in the region is changing, albeit slowly, for better in almost all sectors, including economy, education, and health care.

Now every law enacted by the Parliament is automatically applicable in J&K. This is increasingly bringing benefits to the people of the region. Now people of the region have greater employment opportunities. Outsiders can purchase land in the region and make investments creating greater employment opportunities for them.

The saffron party is likely to get the support of Hindu, Sikh & Christian Dalits and Pasmanda Caste Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir. They happen to be key beneficiaries of the creation of the union territory.

According to a study, Jammu and Kashmir has a vast population of Hindu, Sikh & Christian Dalits and Pasmanda Caste Muslims. It has diverse communities of nomadic tribal communities too. In Jammu, there are about 10 lakh Hindu Dalits. There is a large community of displaced Punjabi Hindu Dalits from the Sialkot region of Pakistan. There is also a smaller Hindu Dalit community from Punjab, who were brought to the region from Punjab in the 1950s, when sanitation workers in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state had gone on strike. If the population of all Hindu Dalit communities is combined, it could very well touch nearly 1.5 million. This would be about 8 per cent of the total population of Jammu & Kashmir.

In addition, there is a large community of Mazhabi & Ravidasia Dalit Sikh community in the Jammu region. Jammu is also home to a small Dalit Punjabi Christian "Masihi" community, which converted from Punjabi Dalit Valmiki caste to Christianity. There is a large population of Pasmanda Caste Kashmiri Muslims in the Kashmir valley. They are mainly converts from Dalit & Shudra castes. At the bottom of the Dalit Muslim community are Wattal/Sheikhs, who were historically involved in the dehumanising work of manual scavenging.

Jammu and Kashmir is also home to a large Tribal population. This includes Muslim nomadic tribal community of Gujjar & Bakarwals. They are nearly 2 million in population. There are also Hindu nomadic tribal communities of Gaddis in the Union Territory.

The observers say all these communities feel better off after the abrogation of J&K's special status. All of them are now citizens of India. They are entitled to the civil and political rights their counterparts in other parts of India are. Earlier, they had little voice in Jammu & Kashmir and had been facing various kinds of caste and racial discrimination.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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