Standing atop his campaign vehicle, Mohammad Sikander addresses a massive election gathering in Bandipora, some 56 kms north of Srinagar. Sporting a blue kameez salwar and a bespoke coat, Sikander talks about the drainage system, the need for a separate college for women, and other developmental issues.
37-year-old Sikander is running as an independent candidate from the Bandipora Assembly constituency. His candidacy is backed by the proscribed Jamaat-e-Islami.
Sikander’s every moment is closely monitored as he has been tagged with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device by the police.
Following a court order, police affixed the device on his right ankle before releasing him from jail ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Sikander, a former district president of the outfit, was arrested in 2019 following the ban imposed on the Jamaat-e-Islami under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
He was released and detained multiple times before he decided to participate in electoral politics.
“After the rigged 1987 elections, we chose not to contest elections. However, the free and fair Lok Sabha elections of 2024 renewed our faith in the electoral process,” said Sikander.
Sikander was barely 14 when he crossed the LoC to receive arms training several years ago. However, after landing in a training camp, he decided to abandon the path of violence and pursue his studies in PoK.
In 2012, Sikander returned home under the rehabilitation policy rolled out in 2010 by the Omar Abdullah government. The policy was aimed at facilitating the return of those who crossed over to LoC between 1 January 1989 and 31 January 2009.
Election campaign
Sikander travels in a modest cavalcade of two to three Maruti Alto cars in different pockets of the constituency. However, as he set out from his home in Gudpora village, a 10-minute drive from Bandipora town, a stream of motorcycles and cars of his supporters began following him.
“Mission-e-Kamil (mission for excellence) is my motto,” said Sikander.
Amidst a tough challenge posed by NC-Congress joint candidate Nizamuddin Bhat, former legislator Usman Majid, and PDP candidate Syed Tajamul, Sikander remains hopeful of emerging victorious.
“We have received an overwhelming response from the people of our constituency,” he said.
Sikander, however, says that the GPS device had invaded his privacy and infringed upon his rights as a law-abiding citizen.
Another candidate
In neighbouring Sonawari constituency, Imtiyaz Ahmad Parray (41), who left Congress and switched to Apni Party, is readying to leave with his supporters for an election rally.
His well-manicured courtyard is filled with dozens of his enthusiastic workers, many of whom have fashioned the party flags into headgears. On one side of it lies the mausoleum of his father Mohammad Yousuf Parray alias Kukka Parray, the founder of the Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen, a state-backed militia. The outfit was joined by hundreds of militants, who switched their allegiance to it in the mid-1990s following their disenchantment with the militant movement. However, the group was found involved in killings, extortions, and other forms of human rights violations, leading to a tarnished reputation. It was in this backdrop that in the 2002 Assembly elections, the People’s Democratic Party made the disbandment of the group a major poll plank.
Parray was killed by militants on September 13, 2003 in his native Hajin village.
Imtiyaz offers Fatah at his father’s grave draped in a green fibre before he leaves for canvassing.
“This area has been facing neglect for years and my sole aim is to develop it,” said Imtiyaz.
He blamed the legacy parties for taking the issue of Article 370 to court, which buried it forever.
“It was a political issue and needed to be fought politically,” said Imtiyaz.
In his rallies, he largely focuses on the development of various sections of society, including scheduled tribes.
On the streets of the Sonawari constituency, discussions about Imtiyaz’s father have diminished, and people are now focusing on the development issues that the candidates are addressing.
Javed-bin-Nabi, a resident of the Sonawari constituency, said that people were more concerned about the development rather than the candidates’ legacies.