Latest news with #Jamaat-e-Islami-backed
The Wire
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
A New Political Alliance Offers an Inkling into BJP's Plans on J&K's Statehood
Jehangir Ali a minute ago Some political analysts believe that international focus on the region as a result of the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan in May this year and the offer of mediation on Kashmir by the United States has changed the regional scenario. Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) President Sajad Lone addresses a press conference regarding the formation of 'People's Alliance for Change', a new political front comprising JKPC, People's Democratic Front and Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Justice and Development Front, in Srinagar, Monday, June 30, 2025. Photo: PTI Srinagar: Amid speculation on the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, a new alliance has taken shape in the Union territory between the Peoples Conference led by Sajad Lone, the Justice and Development Front, a splinter group of the outlawed Jamaat-e-Islami and Hakim Yasin's People's Democratic Front (PDF). Some political analysts believe that international focus on the region as a result of the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan in May this year and the offer of mediation on Kashmir by the United States has changed the regional scenario in South Asia. It may also spark some political changes in Jammu and Kashmir. Srinagar-based political analyst and senior human rights activist, Sheikh Showkat Hussain, said that the changed scenario may make the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government extend 'some concessions' to the political parties in J&K. 'One of them could be the restoration of J&K's statehood." Hussain, who retired as head and dean of the School of Legal Studies at the Central University of Kashmir, said, 'As a preemptive measure, they may go for fresh election and would like a fractured mandate in Kashmir so that they (BJP) can go an alliance of the type they had with PDP previously'. All eyes on parliament session Speculation is rife that the Union government could bring a bill restoring J&K's statehood in the parliament which will convene for the monsoon session from July 21. While the contours of the bill remain in the realm of speculations, The Wire has previously reported that it could pave the way for fresh assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Although the three political parties have limited electoral influence with only one member (Lone) in the J&K assembly, some analysts believe that their coming together was part of a design to fracture the mandate in the Kashmir Valley. Rekha Chowdhary, senior academic and former professor of Political Science at the University of Jammu, said that the alliance indicates that the Peoples Conference led by Lone was playing on a weak wicket. The alliance's ability to stage electoral upsets in case of fresh election largely depends on its ability to convince the Jamaat sympathisers to cast their votes in their favour and embrace the mainstream. The Jamaat's advisory council including its chief Abdul Hameed Fayaz are languishing in jail along with several other Jamaat leaders and activists. Turbulence in Jamaat The Jamaat's splinter group, which has formed the alliance with Lone's PC, has only two well-known faces from the outfit in its ranks – former general secretary Ghulam Qadir Lone from north Kashmir, whose son, Kalimullah Lone, unsuccessfully contested from Langate constituency in 2024 assembly election, and Ghulam Qadir Wani, a basic member (rukun) from south Kashmir's Pulwama. Peoples Conference's Irfan Sultan Pandithpuri lost the Langate assembly seat by some 1,500 votes in a triangular contest with Sheikh Khursheed, the brother of Engineer Rashid who won the seat by polling 25,625 votes while Lone came in distant fifth place with just 3463 votes. A Srinagar-based political analyst, who has written extensively about the Jamaat said that Lone and Wani were not part of the outfit's Majlis-e-Shora or the advisory council when it was banned by the Union home ministry. 'The Jamaat has hundreds of basic members and its constitution doesn't allow the formation of a parallel party. Only the council can take a call on participating in elections,' he said, referring to the expulsion of late Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Geelani, his political secretary Pir Hissamudin and others from the outfit in 2004. The expulsion of Geelani and others took place in the backdrop of allegations that the Jamaat had tacitly enabled the coming to power of the PDP led by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the 2002 assembly election. Hissamudin was killed by unknown gunmen soon after the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a parallel political outfit, was floated and headed by Geelani against the Jamaat. Hussain said that following the ban in 2019, some former and present Jamaat members may have developed political ambitions. 'They used the name of the Jamaat in the 2024 assembly election. They have assumed a different name now because of resistance from the (Jamaat) cadre. One can only speculate at this point because the Jamaat leaders are in jail but the name change in itself is an indication of the differences within the group,' he said. Fracturing the mandate While the new alliance aligns with the BJP's broader strategy of having a third political force capable of competing with the two dominant parties in the Kashmir Valley – the ruling NC and the PDP, it is for some a stark reflection of Sajad Lone's dimming fortunes. 'Despite trying to strengthen his party, Lone lost one seat in the 2024 assembly election and won only one and that too with a narrow margin. He has not been successful in expanding his constituency and instead ended up on the losing side. This alliance reflects how badly the PC is requiring external support for expanding its ground base,' Chowdhary said. Hussain, however, said that the BJP would like to divide the voters in Kashmir 'so that there are so many parties that it becomes easy for them (BJP) to manage the outcome (in case of fresh assembly election)'. A leader of the new alliance, who spoke with The Wire on the condition of anonymity, rejected the speculation, saying that the three parties had reached an understanding that they could cash in on the 'widespread sentiment against the NC due to its refusal to take a tough stand against New Delhi while failing to fulfil its electoral promises'. 'The alliance's electoral ambitions also don't overlap. For instance, the PC is strong in Kupwara and Pattan while the JDF has presence in south Kashmir, parts of Budgam and Baramulla districts,' he added. Chowdhary also said that there was 'some volatility' in the political atmosphere in Kashmir with the narrative of Omar Abdullah versus Syed Aga Ruhullah gaining traction in recent months amid growing resentment against the party's performance after it came to power last year. 'Whether this is only a narrative remains to be seen but the situation is more unsettled now rather than being settled and it seems anything is possible. In case of fresh elections, there could be defections within the parties and who knows which parties are going to be hit,' she said. BJP's road to power? Chowdhary said that the BJP would aim for a repeat of its 2014 performance if a fresh assembly election was held in Jammu and Kashmir. The saffron party swept the Jammu region after riding the Modi wave and formed a coalition government with the PDP which emerged as the single largest party. In Kashmir, the party would ideally seek support this time from smaller parties other than NC and PDP. Hussain said that the BJP's policies have pushed the whole country on the 'wrong side of history' including in the Middle East, recent developments vis-a-vis the India-Pakistan conflict and US president Donald Trump's claims of having brokered a ceasefire might force a change. 'These experiments (new alliances) are aimed to create electoral divisions in Kashmir so that people vote for local parties. Their basic purpose is to create a situation in which the mandate in Kashmir remains tied to the party which comes to power in Jammu, be it the BJP or the Congress'. Chowdhary said that the Jamaat has been an ideological rival of the NC but in terms of electoral politics, it hasn't been able to put up a good show in its history. 'The alliance feels more like a pressure tactic and the coming together of odds rather than a factor that could change the situation on the ground. In its history, the Jamaat has performed well only with the blessings of the Union government. It was a proxy for the Congress in 1972 when it put up its best performance by winning five seats. Whose proxy it was in the 2024 election and whether it will continue to remain a proxy, given the prevailing ban, remains to be seen.' The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
PC, JDF, PDF band together, say will strive for change in Kashmir
In an interesting political development in Kashmir, a new political amalgam — People's Alliance for Change (PAC) —which aims to provide an alternative against the 'elite political ruling minority' while also fighting for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood, was announced on Monday. JKPC chief Sajad Lone along with PDF president Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, Jamaat-e-Islami-backed JDF's chief Shamim Ahmad Thokar during a press conference in Srinagar on Monday. (PTI) The alliance was announced by People's Conference(PC) led by Sajad Lone, Jamaat-e-Islami affiliated Justice and Development Front (JDF), which fought recent assembly elections, and People's Democratic Front (PDF) led by Hakeem Yaseen. Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Sajad Lone said that the decision to form the alliance came after months of consultations. 'The alliance is a platform which will work for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This platform is the one in which everybody has suffered - pain and sorrow. We have not inflicted pain. And this platform will bring change in the barren political landscape,' he said. He said that they are providing people an alternative against those who inflicted the pain here. 'The people suffered in these 30 years, went to jails, many are in graveyards while many suffered interrogations. While the other group who are at the forefront in inflicting these sufferings. And it is also a fact that by and large only these people have been our rulers here,' he said. 'PAC is an alliance of those who have suffered. How would Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah know what is victimhood? They only know how to inflict oppression. This is a people's alliance for change. It is not a third front and everyone can join us,' Lone said. In the recent elections, all the three parties were not able to score anything major except a single seat of Handwara in north Kashmir which was won by Sajad Lone. However, together there are chances of it becoming a formidable group which can be problematic for the traditional parties in the political arithmetic of Kashmir. PC won the Sajad Lone's Handwara seat in 2024 assembly elections while also lost four seats by narrow margins in north Kashmir. Lone has been previously a separatist leader who joined mainstream politics when he fought parliamentary elections in 2009. Justice and Development Front (JDF) was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) affiliated candidates early this year after the central government imposed a five-year ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019, citing the outfit's alleged ties with militant groups. Last year, some 10 such candidates participated in the elections as Independents, including the prominent Sayyar Ahmad Reshi and Talat Majid in south Kashmir with no success on any seat, though Reshi managed to gather a formidable vote percentage in south Kashmir. People's Democratic Front (PDF) led by Hakeem Yaseen has a good following in Khansahib area of central Kashmir, though he lost the elections in 2024 after being its MLA for three consecutive terms. JDF president Shamim Ahmad Thokar said that they formed the alliance knowing well that individually they won't be able to bring any change. 'We understood that we can't do much individually. If we want to do something for our people and bring change then we would have to move ahead together. Ideological differences apart, we need a joint platform for working ahead,' he said. He said that Sajad Lone and them had a historical connection. 'Sajad sb's father and our elder leaders held mutual interests. And now we want to work together,' he said. Thokar said that the alternative will attempt for stability in this region which has been 'elusive for the past few decades'. 'Now youth are not comfortable with double speak of leaders. Now the talk in Srinagar and in Delhi will be the same. Only that government will move ahead which indulges in one talk- both in Srinagar and Delhi. We endeavour for political stability and we will strive for that,' he said. In a joint statement, the alliance said that it believes in the 'Restoration of Article 370, Article 35 A and statehood'. 'The alliance will strive and exhaust all political means in pursuit of these objectives,' the PAC said. The amalgam was also aghast over new reservation rules in J&K. 'We believe that one of the biggest tools of disempowerment of the Kashmiris that has emerged, is the system of reservations in J&K. The present system of reservations is a regional issue and systematically discriminates against the people of Kashmir,' it said. 'Upto 90% of jobs go to the Jammu region. Till now the only party to call it a regional issue has been the JKPC. The JDF joins JKPC in calling it a regional issue. This is a wake-up call for the people,' it said.
News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Sajad Lone's Party Joins Hands With PDF, JDF To Launch New Political Front In J&K
Last Updated: Leaders of three parties formed a new political front, "People's Alliance for Change," in Jammu and Kashmir to address "leadership and accountability" issues. Almost eight months after the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, leaders of the Peoples Conference (PC), Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) and the Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Justice and Development Front joined hands to float a new political front called the 'People's Alliance for Change". The announcement came on Monday at a press conference here by PC chief Sajad Gani Lone, PDF leaders, and leaders of the Justice and Development Front. The leaders said that the new alliance will work together for the democratic rights of the people. The organisational structure would be collectively announced by the constituent parties soon, they said. The alliance, according to members, aims to provide an alternative political vision in the Union Territory and address what they termed the 'crisis of leadership and accountability" in J&K. Lone said the new alliance offers a viable alternative to the people, as they have endured immense suffering. 'We are committed to driving change. The current political landscape is barren, and our alliance offers a viable alternative," he added. Senior Shia Muslim leader and prominent leader of the PC, Imran Raza Ansari, was also present during the announcement. Shamim Ahmad Thokar, President of the Justice and Development Front, a political party informally established by a Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)-affiliated candidate, said, 'We cannot succeed alone. To serve the people effectively, we must unite. Our party will join this alternative alliance." All three parties were wiped out in the elections, which were held for the first time since the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two union territories. National Conference-Congress alliance emerged victorious, winning 48 seats (NC-42 and Congress 6) in the 90-member assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 29 seats while former CM Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) could win only three seats. Among the three parties in this new alliance, only Sajad Gani Lone could win the legislative Assembly elections in 2024 from the Handwara Assembly constituency in Kupwara district. Imran Raza Ansari also fought the election from Pattan Assembly constituency in Baramulla district, but was defeated by Riyaz Ahmad Bedar of the National Conference by a narrow margin of less than 300 votes. Hakeem Yasin of the PDF fought the Assembly elections from the Khansahib constituency, but was defeated for the first time by the National Conference candidate. Leaders of the Jamaat backed the Justice and Development Front fought on some seats in the South Kashmir districts. In the Kulgam Assembly constituency, once believed to be the political stronghold of the Jamaat, its backed candidate was defeated by CPI(M)'s Yusuf Tarigama. First Published: June 30, 2025, 16:41 IST
India Today
24-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Congress's win in high-stakes Kerala bypoll warning for Pinarayi Vijayan?
In what many viewed as a semi-final match ahead of next year's Kerala Assembly elections, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured a decisive victory in the Nilambur by-election on Monday. Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath defeated the ruling CPI(M)'s M Swaraj by a margin of 11,077 votes — marking the UDF's first win in a CPI(M)-held seat in over four by-election was necessitated by the resignation of PV Anvar, an independent MLA backed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), following a fallout with the front. Shoukath's win also symbolically reclaims the seat once held by his father, the late Aryadan Muhammed, for a record eight THE BY-ELECTION HAPPENEDJust a few years ago, few would have imagined PV Anvar challenging the CPI(M). Once celebrated by Left cadres as their own, despite being an independent, Anvar had turned Nilambur red in both 2016 and 2021, a constituency that traditionally leaned towards the Congress-led UDF. However, the alliance soured dramatically when Anvar launched scathing allegations against the Chief Minister's Office and senior police officers, including CM's political secretary P Sasi and former Assistant Director General of Police MR Ajith Kumar, accusing them of corruption and criminal eventually resigned, joined the Trinamool Congress as its state convenor, and made overtures to both the UDF and Tamil Nadu's DMK before contesting as a rebel faced off with Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan when Congress chose to field Shoukath over Anvar's choice VS Joy, the Malappuram district Congress president. His decision to fight the by-election, aimed at challenging both 'Pinarayism' (Pinarayi Vijayan's dominance) and 'Satheesanism' (VD Satheesan's leadership), turned the race into a three-way fight. Anvar finished third with 19,760 votes, proving he still commands significant THE RESULT TELLS USFor the first time since 2006, CPI(M) contested Nilambur under its own symbol, fielding senior party leader M Swaraj. Despite the anticipation surrounding his candidature, the party managed to lead in just one local segment — a sobering result for a government that has been in power for nine result signals an anti-incumbency undercurrent and gives the Congress a strong narrative heading into the 2026 Assembly elections. This victory also comes shortly after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's election from Wayanad — of which Nilambur is an assembly segment — and may reflect a rising momentum for the Congress in North the issues between Shashi Tharoor and the party leadership in the state that surfaced on polling day, did not affect the Congress's strategy of attacking Congress over alleged ties with the Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Welfare Party of India failed to dent UDF's prospects. More troubling for the Left, the party lagged even in its traditional strongholds, fuelling criticism of a top-down, Pinarayi-centric leadership the LDF aiming for a third consecutive term, Nilambur serves as a second warning after its underwhelming performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The CPI(M) now faces growing internal and external pressure to rethink its political messaging and organisational approach.- Ends
The Print
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Political row continues in Kerala over Jamaat-e-Islami support for UDF in Nilambur by-poll
He said that such a clarification from her and the Congress leadership was important in view of the secular stand taken by her party, mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi. CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan, speaking to reporters here, said that Vadra, who was coming to campaign for the Congress candidate in the Nilambur assembly by-poll, was obligated to tell the people about her stand with regard to her party's alleged ties with the Jamaat-e-Islami. Malappuram(Kerala), Jun 12 (PTI) The political row over the Jamaat-e-Islami's support for the Congress-led UDF continued in Kerala with the ruling CPI(M) on Thursday seeking a clarification on the matter from Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sunny Joseph said that the UDF will accept all the support offered to it in order to win the Nilambur by-poll as it is a political fight against the LDF's allegedly anti-people policies. The issue had sparked heated exchanges on June 10 and escalated further on Wednesday as leaders from the CPI(M), Congress, and BJP traded barbs over past alliances and national security concerns. The controversy centers on whether secular parties should accept the backing of organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Welfare Party and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), led by controversial cleric Abdul Nasar Madani. While the Welfare Party has backed the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Nilambur by-poll, the CPI(M) headed-Left Democratic Front (LDF) enjoys the support of the PDP. The BJP has alleged that both the Congress and the CPI(M) were compromising the nation's security by aligning with Jamaat-e-Islami and the PDP. The row erupted after the Welfare Party announced support for UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath in the June 19 Nilambur bypoll, calling it a chance for voters to respond to nine years of what it sees as damaging Left rule in Kerala. PTI HMP HMP ROH This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
