Cloze Activity:

Word Bank:
ahistorical, condescendingly, construe, mobilisation, mobilise,
octogenarian, reductive, shuns, sloganeer, venerated.
Instructions: Write the correct word in the blanks. Use the Word Bank
for reference.

It will be erroneous to _________________ high voter turnout in
Kashmir as a sign of an acceptance of the Indian Constitution. There
are varied factors embedded in the political conflict situation that
influence people's decision to vote High voter turnout in the first
three phases of the ongoing Assembly election in the State of Jammu
and Kashmir is being _________________ as a sign of "Kashmiris
rejecting separatist politics" and "burying the demand for azaadi
(independence)." While the Prime Minister has said that the people of
Kashmir "have chosen the ballot and have given their reply to the
bullets," a high profile journalist decided to debate the election in
Kashmir under the rubric of "Valley _________________ Separatists."
Such convenient equations, often accompanied by an aggressive
nationalist undertone, negate the complexities of "choices" Kashmiris
make in a political conflict theatre that the region is, and often
referred to by the media as a flashpoint. In the process, their
political agency is obliterated and _________________ declared as
being limited in binaries — an acceptance of Indian democracy or
submitting to the will of separatist leaders. Understanding the
turnout It will be erroneous to _________________ the high voter
turnout as a sign of Kashmiris embracing the Indian Constitution.
There are varied determining factors, embedded in the political
conflict situation of Kashmir that influence people's decision to
vote. Many in Kashmir assert that it reflects developmental
aspirations of a region where local institutions and the economy have
been ravaged in the past 25 years of conflict. The vote is for
effective local governance that will deliver social services. The
ballot is being used to resolve day-to-day problems, to address
unemployment, towards improved infrastructure like roads, schools,
health systems and to fulfil basic needs like food security, water and
electricity. "Jo nahin milega usko vote doonga," (I will vote for what
I am not going to get) was how a 60-year-old man who voted in the
Kulgam constituency of south Kashmir responded to a question on what
he would vote for if given a choice between India and independence.
The hint was telling. He went on say that he had voted in almost all
the elections and added, "kisi ke darr se nahi" (not because I feared
somebody). He had voted for development, emphasising that the winning
MLA has a responsibility towards ensuring it. A lawyer from Shopian
district court, Habeel Iqbal, echoed similar sentiments. He said that
people's expectations from this exercise stem largely from the need to
have a functional local government that is pro-development and
pro-people. They do not see voting for their local MLAs as voting for
India. Kashmiris do seem to associate themselves with the State
election more than they do with the national elections. Low voter
turnout in the parliamentary election this year, 49.52 per cent, is
evident of the disconnect when it comes to voting for "national
issues". There are multiple dimensions as to how Kashmiris interpret
the elections. Some call it political maturity. They see it as a
befitting strategy to avoid having a party in power that has no
sensibilities about Kashmir. A development professional from Ganderbal
said if Kashmiris don't vote, then the elected representatives will be
more pro-India and less pro-Kashmiri people. Many see it as political
leverage in negotiating for issues such as an immediate and urgent
repeal of draconian laws in force in Kashmir and the release of youth
who have been booked under these laws. Some consider it important for
a long-term political solution to the conflict, which they think is
only possible through consistent dialogue and negotiation with New
Delhi. Kinship and familial relations have also played a significant
role in successive elections. A substantial rise in the number of
candidates over the years, especially independent candidates, has led
to a proportional increase in the number of people voting. Candidates
have been able to leverage their social network in strengthening their
number of votes and support base. Another dimension is anti-incumbency
sentiments against the ruling political party. A much delayed and
inadequate response from the government to the recent catastrophic
floods in Kashmir has resulted in widespread public anger and
frustration. However, there is a deeper and older resentment, against
the Omar Abdullah government whom they accuse of unleashing brutal
police force against unarmed civilians during the protests of 2010,
and which resulted in the deaths of 112 civilians. A journalist in
Srinagar said that people know that they can never get justice from
the court but they know they can punish him by making him lose this
election. A free and fair election? Ahead of the election, separatist
leaders, who represent political alternatives of self-determination in
Kashmir, have been incarcerated. This includes the _________________
leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Democracy is all about having a level-playing field and the creation
of conducive and threat-free conditions for all to express their
political viewpoint, with the right to _________________ people and
influence masses. Such spaces and tools of non-violent dissent and
alternative politics, which have played a constructive role in shaping
and strengthening Indian democracy, have consistently been denied to
Kashmiris. As a calibrated strategy to circumvent any possibility of
_________________ against the election, hundreds of youth have been
jailed throughout the Valley — not just the stone-pelters but also
those who are likely to influence the masses with their speeches and
online campaigns. Many have received threat calls to either
"discipline" their children or face police cases. Kashmiris say
coercion tactics have also "evolved" over the successive elections. In
the garb of extending help to secure the release of detained men,
families are induced to vote. First they get men arrested ahead of the
election and then in exchange for getting them released, they force
people to vote, said Nasir Patigaru, a businessman from Anantnag. In
Srinagar, a 16-year-old stone-pelter said that workers of a mainstream
political party had threatened his friends and him of PSA [Public
Safety Act] and said, "'choose to be with us or get arrested.'" When
faced with two years of incarceration without a trial, they
reluctantly chose to become campaigners for the party. Politics of
numbers Branding high voter turnout as a clear settlement of political
choice, between the Indian state and separatist sentiments, isolates
Kashmiris from their everyday individual and group experiences and
strips them of their political aspirations, which are manifested and
played out "contradictorily" in a multitude of spaces outside and
beyond the polling booths. In 2008, localised demonstrations over the
transfer of 99 acres of public land to the Amarnath shrine board gave
way to a much larger struggle, to reassert the claim over their land
and lives. Lakhs of people poured out on the streets of Kashmir
raising anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. Time magazine reported
that the largest demonstration during that phase saw more than
5,00,000 protesters at a single rally, among the largest in Kashmir's
history. Similarly, the 2010 uprising was marked by pro-independence
slogans, a defiance of curfews, attacks on riot police with stones and
a burning of vehicles and buildings. There are other spaces where
people have consistently asserted their politics, even in the absence
of calls from separatist leaders or being a part of organised
demonstrations. Encounters of militants have witnessed a show of
solidarity by the people where protests erupt instantly at the news of
such killings. Marches to the encounter site, staging pro-freedom
demonstrations and anti-India _________________ing mark these
protests. They are anything but an aberration in Kashmir. If numbers
are the determining factor, then the popular anti-India and
pro-freedom protests, with hundreds of thousands of civilians
participating, are perceptive of the political aspirations of people,
in contrast to the narrative of easy calculations. These protests
become an uncomfortable political antithesis to the "democracy of
numbers" as defined for Kashmir. Let's take a quick peek into the
history of Assembly elections in Kashmir. In 1987, followed by a
popular uprising and full-fledged guerrilla warfare against India,
there was a record voter turnout of 74.9 per cent. During the height
of militancy and anti-India sentiments, in 1996, 53.92 per cent voted.
In 2008, preceded by protracted anti-India protests, the turnout was
61.49 per cent. This was followed by the pro-azaadi protests of 2010.
Therefore, concluding that huge participation in an election as an
absolute verdict on the political will of Kashmiris is not only
_________________ but renders the act _________________. There seems
to be an urgency in celebrating the numbers. Should we not be asking,
instead, whether this high voter turnout has been able to change the
political reality of Kashmir? A series of militant attacks a few days
ago further challenges this very democratic feat. The region remains
one of the highest militarised zones in the world, with draconian laws
in force that disregard lives and dignity. Human rights abuses and the
obstinate impunity which the perpetrators enjoy, militant attacks,
soldiers of the Indian Army losing their lives, political repression
and mass incarcerations are what define the political reality of
Kashmir. Elections have happened and people have voted in huge
numbers, but this remains unchanged.