Despite prison, torture, this Kashmiri politician won’t give up on India

Pulwama, Indian-administered Kashmir — For a period successful 2020, 33-year-old Waheed-ur-Rehman Para was imprisoned successful a dark, underground compartment successful the Indian capital, wherever helium was beaten with rods, stripped naked, and hung upside down aft the country’s premier probe bureau accused him of aiding anti-India rebels.

In the dim light, helium would interaction the names of different Kashmiris — scratched connected the walls — who had been held successful the New Delhi compartment earlier him. At his lowest points, Para would adjacent his eyes and callback the summertime of 2018 erstwhile helium stood successful beforehand of 3,000 people, adjacent to Rajnath Singh, past India’s location minister, who hailed him arsenic a younker icon of Indian democracy.

“I became suicidal and everything,” Para recalled, walking connected a dusty roadworthy successful Pulwama, his hometown.

The metropolis is portion of a territory that shares its sanction and has agelong been a hotbed of anti-India rebellion successful the southbound of Indian-administered Kashmir. But Para was — and remains — a fashionable pro-India leader, and is inactive grappling with the melodramatic twists successful destiny that helium has faced successful caller years. After a period successful the New Delhi cell, helium was held successful a jailhouse successful Srinagar, Kashmir’s biggest city, for astir 2 years.

“My full beingness felt similar a lie,” helium said.

“For a month, I did not cognize whether it was time oregon night. Being caged, I instantly felt connected to my Kashmiri roots and often returned to my childhood,” explained Para, tall, his dependable feeble, hairsbreadth visibly greyer than it was earlier his clip successful prison. “And [I] think, however did this happen.”

Released successful May 2022 aft what United Nations experts person described arsenic 2 years of torture, Para though is inactive not consenting to springiness up connected Indian ideology arsenic helium goes door-to-door canvassing for votes successful rebel-dominated areas that person traditionally boycotted elections. He does this portion juggling aggregate tribunal hearings — immoderate successful cases relating to the charges helium was arrested under, others to bash with petitions seeking support for him to question extracurricular Kashmir.

On September 18, arsenic Kashmir votes successful the archetypal signifier of regional polls being held aft astir 10 years, Para’s sanction volition beryllium connected the ballot. The younker president of the pro-India People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is contesting from Pulwama, his candidature the latest reaffirmation of his religion successful India’s Constitution, astatine a clip erstwhile spot betwixt Kashmiris and the Indian authorities connected the full has fallen to caller depths.

In August 2019, New Delhi unilaterally scrapped Kashmir’s peculiar autonomy — which was guaranteed successful the country’s Constitution — and stripped distant its statehood. Para’s ain odyssey with the Indian authorities wholly “shook” his religion successful democracy, helium said.

But, helium insists, a Kashmiri cannot “live a sadist’s life”. A Kashmiri who loves their homeland, helium said, should “live for Kashmir – not dice for it”. Para was referring to the alternate to ideology that galore successful Kashmir person besides embraced implicit the years — the gun.

Waheed-ur-Rehman Para interacts with radical successful his constituency, Pulwama, during his predetermination run [Abrar Fayaz/Al Jazeera]

‘Avenge jailhouse with votes’

For the past 3 decades, aft an equipped rebellion broke retired against India’s regularisation successful Kashmir, mainstream governmental information was shunned by galore Kashmiris, who heeded separatists’ calls to boycott polls.

In August 2019, New Delhi imposed a curfew, and a months-long communications blackout, earlier bifurcating the authorities of Jammu and Kashmir into 2 federally governed territories, frankincense stripping the region’s semi-autonomous status. The authorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi besides arrested dozens of absorption leaders, including Para and different pro-Indian Kashmiri leaders who swore by the Indian Constitution, keeping them nether preventive detention without a trial.

He was moved from a makeshift situation to location detention successful February 2020 earlier yet being released. But successful November aboriginal that year, soon aft helium filed a information for candidacy successful a section district-level election, Para was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and accused of engagement successful “terrorism”, aiding equipped fighters, and waging warfare against India. It was past that helium endured his clip successful the underground cell.

Para won that territory predetermination but was not allowed to instrumentality an oath by Indian agencies. Right aft a tribunal successful Srinagar granted him bail successful January 2021, helium was arrested again from the jailhouse by different investigative bureau successful Kashmir successful different case, again accused of “aiding and abetting terrorism”.

In May 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted him bail, noting that the grounds against him was “too sketchy”.

On a sunny day past week, erstwhile Al Jazeera met him, Para was starring his supporters successful an predetermination rally successful Pulwama’s Beighpora village, known arsenic the location of Riyaz Naikoo, the past popular commander of the pro-Pakistan rebel radical Hizbul Mujahideen.

Para was surrounded by radical waiting excitedly to shingle hands with him. “Jail ka badla ballot se [We volition avenge jailhouse with votes],” his supporters shouted, arsenic a frail, aged antheral wearing a white-skull headdress tried to talk to Para.

“My lad has been successful jailhouse nether PSA,” helium told Para, who leaned down to perceive him amid large slogans, utilizing the acronym of Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law.

“Don’t interest Haji sahab, I’m here,” Para said, patting his shoulder. “Come to my location successful the evening and we volition spot to it.”

These are pleas helium hears the most, Para aboriginal told Al Jazeera – those of parents looking for assistance for their children jailed nether India’s anti-terror and preventive detention laws, which rights groups picture arsenic draconian.

“We privation to person New Delhi to prosecute with Kashmiri stakeholders,” helium said. “There has to beryllium a reconciliation question successful Kashmir and cases of our younker request to beryllium dropped. We request a immense governmental process [for reconciliation].”

Among Para’s biggest tests is convincing Kashmiris that his party, the PDP, is the 1 that tin thrust specified a process.

Large sections of Kashmiri nine person agelong treated relation with mainstream India with suspicion, due to the fact that of the legitimacy that brings to India’s regularisation implicit the region. India and Pakistan person some contested the portion for 77 years, each claiming each of it portion controlling parts of it.

The governmental abstraction for pro-India engagement shrank further aft Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party, successful powerfulness successful New Delhi, revoked the region’s peculiar status.

The PDP was an state of the BJP successful the past elected authorities of the portion successful 2014. Since then, the enactment has faced fierce disapproval for allowing the BJP to participate into powerfulness successful Kashmir.

In 2016, the PDP-BJP confederation quelled wide thoroughfare protests, sparked aft the sidesplitting of a fashionable rebel commander, Burhan Wani. Nearly 100 civilians were killed, a important fig of them successful southbound Kashmir. Hundreds of others were blinded by wounds from pellet guns.

However, that rejection of mainstream authorities seems to beryllium fading, said Para, pointing to the record-high elector turnout successful the parliamentary predetermination held betwixt April and June 2024 and the triumph of a jailed, anti-establishment autarkic candidate, Sheikh Abdul Rashid – besides known arsenic Engineer Rashid who defeated erstwhile Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Noor Ahmad Baba, a retired prof who headed the societal sciences section astatine the University of Kashmir, said, “The turnout reflects people’s choler against the policies of the Indian authorities [including scrapping of the peculiar presumption and further clampdown].”

“I deliberation radical are knowing the value of antiauthoritarian space,” Para said of the governmental shift. “It is precise challenging and hard to travel out, oregon adjacent talk, successful Kashmir. People are realising that they tin explicit themselves by voting also.”

Waheed Para embraces a man, whose lad has been imprisoned nether the Public Safety Act, promising him assistance [Abrar Fayaz/Al Jazeera]

Personal is political

For Para, “everything is governmental successful Kashmir — and authorities is ever personal”.

Growing up successful Pulwama meant, helium said, beingness was perpetually uncertain. “We feared the militants and we feared the military,” helium recalled. “I grew up arsenic India, Pakistan, and China fought implicit who gets to regularisation us.” China besides controls a tiny portion of the Kashmir region, to the northbound of the Karakoram upland scope — India claims that portion of Kashmir.

The struggle implicit Kashmir reached Para’s home, successful 2002, erstwhile his father, Ghulam Ahmad Para, was abducted by the Ikhwans, a pro-government militia, who demanded a ransom the Para household could not afford.

Para recalled that erstwhile nary 1 heard the past 15-year-old teenager’s pleas for help, the past person of the PDP, the precocious Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, lent him a helping hand, negotiating his father’s release. “I ne'er looked backmost since then,” helium said, his eyes welled up. “I wanted to beryllium a portion of this thing.”

Para was excessively young to ballot astatine the time, but helium joined the PDP’s run way the pursuing period arsenic a polling cause arsenic the portion geared up for the assembly elections. Sayeed was elected main minister, and helium disbanded the Ikhwans.

The conflict for 2024

Driving astir Pulwama successful his achromatic SUV past week, with the car’s extortion covered successful a web of the PDP’s green-coloured flags, Para waved astatine radical arsenic they spotted him.

On the different broadside of the road, the cavalcade of a section BJP campaigner passed. With a wink, helium said: “The BJP enjoys the enactment of the authorities machinery but it is not similar they bask popularity here.” The BJP has ne'er won a spot successful Kashmir, though it is simply a ascendant unit successful the Jammu portion that is besides portion of the combined administrative portion known arsenic Jammu and Kashmir, which is voting successful the elections.

In his hometown, Para is up against an aged PDP hand, 72-year-old Mohammad Khalil Bandh. When Bandh won the spot successful 2014, the past clip determination elections took place, Para was helping beforehand that campaign. In 2019, Bandh switched to the National Conference, Kashmir’s biggest governmental party.

And determination is different improbable entrant to the fray, Talat Majeed, a erstwhile subordinate of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a socioreligious organisation presently banned successful India, that announced an extremity to its 37-year of self-imposed exile from polls – and returned to mainstream politics.

Speaking with Al Jazeera, Majeed said helium sees Para arsenic a “sincere candidate” and noted that their manifestos – promising an extremity to New Delhi’s bureaucratic overreach and a “jail-free Kashmir” for younker – overlap. But helium said helium was assured helium was “the apical candidate”.

Campaign buntings for Waheed Para’s PDP successful his constituency successful southbound Kashmir [Abrar Fayaz/Al Jazeera]

Give anticipation different chance

As Para canvasses for votes, drumming up enactment for the “politics of reconciliation”, helium is yet to reconcile with his imprisonment.

When his begetter Ghulam was battling crab successful a infirmary successful New Delhi, Para was not allowed by investigative agencies to sojourn him. He is barred from leaving Kashmir due to the fact that of the cases helium faces. Ghulam passed distant successful January this year, aged 62. In February, his seven-year-old nephew Aleem besides died portion successful a coma. Para was not allowed to question to New Delhi to spot the kid earlier helium died.

Para’s passport has been impounded since September 2023, which meant helium could not be a fellowship astatine Yale University’s International Leadership Centre.

“Now, I effort to prevention different families erstwhile I couldn’t prevention my ain family,” helium said.

But Para insisted that helium retains his content successful the “idea of India”. “I person a batch of clarity connected the quality betwixt ‘India’ and ‘BJP’ and that the state is successful a transition,” helium said. “India is astir patriotism but the BJP is astir Hindu nationalism, which means enforcing majoritarianism.”

Para’s thoughts drifted backmost to the clip when, arsenic a teenager, helium was moving astir looking for assistance to unafraid his father’s release. If determination was 1 happening helium could archer that 15-year-old successful hindsight, helium said, it would beryllium this: “Naummeedi nahi honi chahiye [Never springiness up hope].”

“We indispensable springiness anticipation different chance.”