The terrorised atmosphere that prevailed a year ago in Kashmir has given way so much that young people like Gowhar are braving risks to enter the political arena.

The killing of BJP youth leader Gowhar Bhat in Kashmir on Thursday was horrifyingly dramatic; his throat was slit. But it is worth focusing on his life as much as on his death.

The very fact that the young man had chosen to become a grassroots activist of the BJP—that too at a time when it was obviously dangerous, for militancy has been on the rise over the past few years—is remarkable.

That hundreds of mourners gathered for his funeral is a telling sidelight. One has only to compare the situation with half a century ago—yes, not the `90s but the late `60s—to realize the significance of that congregation. For there was a brief phase back then in which ruling party (the National Conference had merged with the Congress at the time) workers were occasionally refused burial space in graveyards.

The sad fact is that, although there has been a recent upsurge in pan-Islamist ideas, narrow vision exclusivism on religious and other lines is not new in Kashmir.

Increasing political activism

Gowhar’s choice of party might be relatively uncommon in a place like Kashmir. But the remarkable fact is that several young people who aspire to political roles have in recent months become more willing and eager to take the plunge into one or other sort of politics.

One reason for this is the growing realization among sections of the population that a terrible round of violence lies ahead unless they strengthen alternative paths.

The success of the security forces in the field, and the investigative pressure of the National Investigative Authority on aspects like terror funding, may also have played some role in reorienting minds.

Whatever the reasons, there is a discernible difference in mood and attitude among some sections of the population compared with the months after militant commander Burhan Wani was killed last year.

Those Kashmiris who think of themselves as Indian were on the back foot through those awful months from July last year when the state seemed to have ceded control of the ground to bands of boys who manned barricades and pelted stones. Those aggressive bands of boys threatened all those who wanted to move on highways and other routes—whether these were the army or their own parents. Some of those who described themselves as `nationalist’ Indians were coerced during those months to send a member of the household to the barricades or for the night patrols which the agitating boys organized.

The terrorised atmosphere in which many people felt trapped then has given way so much a year later that young people like Gowhar are braving the risks of entering the political arena.

BJP presence

It is not as if BJP activism is new in Kashmir. There were BJP candidates in several Valley constituencies even for the 2008 assembly elections. Most of them were not taken seriously as contenders, and yet they campaigned openly. (Of course, there was no militant activity at that stage anywhere in the Valley.)

In fact, in the Kulgam constituency, which is largely polarized between the Jamaat-e-Islami and the CPM, a man who had been affiliated with the Jamaat contested on a BJP ticket. He stated publicly that he hoped for backing from Jamaat backers against the CPM’s sitting candidate.

During the next round of assembly elections, in 2014, the BJP put up candidates all over the Valley, and ran a high-profile campaign. Party president Amit Shah spoke often at that stage of his `mission 44’—meaning a majority in the state assembly.

Across religions

For some, Gowhar’s terrible murder revived memories of the assassination of Tika Lal Taploo outside his house in Srinagar in 1989. That murder by another generation of militants was among the first events to focus attention on the then nascent militancy in the Valley.

The fact that stands out, though, is that Taploo was known as a leader of the Pandit community. Gowhar was a Muslim—as are a number of the other young Kashmiris who have recently taken the plunge to enter politics.