M A I N   N E W S

POLLS 2008
Jammu & Kashmir
Dipping into faith
Naveen S Garewal and Shariq Majeed
Tribune News service

Kalakote (Rajouri), November 11
Mehbooba Mufti knows faith fires people. Especially the innocent and the ill-informed.

That’s why she has reached out to “pirs and fakirs” to secure a pledge of support for the People's Democratic Party in the backward areas of Rajouri.

Thousands of followers of Sufi saint Syeed Mussafar Hussain Shah have vowed “not to let her down” in the elections.

They have little choice. Shah’s message to them is as simple as it gets: “You always come to me and I have always used my miraculous powers to heal you. But, remember, the next time you come to me, I will be able to determine if you voted for Khalid Qureshi or someone else. If my powers tell me otherwise, I will break all religious ties with you. I now want you to raise your hands and take a pledge in the name of Allah that you will press the button for the PDP candidate".

At a gathering today, about 3,000 people sat like ones transported as the PDP chief started her speech with a one-liner: "What can I tell you more than what you have already heard from ‘Baji Sahib’ (Shah)?” Almost spantaneously, almost everyone in the near-euphoric audience raised their hands in affirmation.

Caught between militancy and security “crackdowns”, residents of Kalakote barely manage to feed themselves in this predominantly rural constituency. Mostly illiterate, they are farmers and nomads, including "Gujjars" and “bakkarwals”, who work on their small lands or as manual labour.

Development is unknown here. PDP leader Ashiq Hussain Bukhari says, “People here desperately need a healing touch and some development to bring them at par with other areas of the state”. Even though a thermal plant was set up here over a decade ago, it remains non-functional. First it was not commissioned as the area was highly militant-infested and, later, the last Vidhan Sabha simply ignored the area as the sitting legislator (Rashpal Singh) belonged to the National Conference.”

Mehbooba says she has the mantra for development. Seeking support for Khalid Qureshi, her party candidate, she said, “If you strengthen that hands of Mufti Sahib (Mufti Mohammad Sayed), he will ensure development and prosperity. The NC has done nothing for the common people”.

She lays out promises thick and fast: regional councils for Poonch and Rajouri, decentralisation of power, and “empowerment” of the people of Poonch and Rajouri.

A politician's staple, but she must be aware that if something is going to help her, it will be something entirely different —the pull of faith...