Srinagar: For his entire political career spanning 4.5 decades, Ghulam Nabi Patel strived to strengthen the fort of democracy in Kashmir. A resident of Pulwama district, Patel had to recently give up his family life and was living alone, under protection, for believing in the politics he nourished with his blood and sweat, one of his relatives said.
But when militants shot him dead on Wednesday, the 65-year-old politician was tragically denied the identity that he proudly wore on his sleeves all through his life. There was even a war of words among the parties over his association with them, perhaps fearing that owning him now might demoralise their cadre.
A long political career but a nameless death
In a bid to establish his name in J&K politics, Patel tried his luck with different political parties. Today, he was the man from the BJP, the party he had joined more than a year ago.
He had gone to see his family, after a gap of four months, and was returning in the afternoon when his Scorpio car was intercepted by three militants in Rajpora chowk, a police official said.
The gunmen fired indiscriminately at the vehicle, from a very close range, resulting in the on-the-spot death of Patel and injuries to his two security officers.
The politician from Pulwama, who had earned the nickname ‘Patel’ for his close association with Congress’s Ahmad Patel in the past, had actually embraced the idea of India in the late 1970s. In the years to follow, he worked on the ground to strengthen Congress’s base in the Valley. In return, he was rewarded with a ticket to contests the 2002 assembly elections from his own constituency of Rajpora. But he lost badly.
A few years later, he quit the party and joined Darakhsha Andrabi, an erstwhile president of the Socialist Democratic Party and now the female face of the BJP in Kashmir. He tried his luck again during the next election, but suffered another defeat.
Disenchanted, Patel finally joined the People’s Democratic Party led by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who had groomed him when Sayeed was a Congressman. In the 2014 assembly elections, Patel played a major role in securing the Rajpora assembly constituency for the party, before he fell out with it and joined the BJP last year.
Politics over a dead body
It was the politics of dissociation that followed his death which left many observers stunned in Kashmir. Barely minutes after the news about his killing spread, both the PDP and Congress tried to disown him. Mehbooba, who is also PDP president, condemned his killing, but termed him a Congressman.
Heartfelt condolences to the family of senior Congress leader, G. N. Patel who was killed by militants today in Rajpora. Such cowardly acts achieve nothing but leave one more family devastated.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 25, 2018
State Congress chief G.A. Mir took exception to Mehbooba’s remarks, while disowning Patel and identifying him as a PDP worker.
“We condemn the killing…but I was surprised to find that the chief minister claimed that he (Patel) was a Congress leader. He did contest the 2002 assembly elections on a Congress ticket, but since 2008 he was not associated with us, he had in fact joined the PDP in 2014 and campaigned for the party,” said Mir.
Amid this war of words, former chief minister and working president of the National Conference Omar Abdullah talked about the tragedy that Patel was meted out after his death.
How tragic that Patel Sahib, a political worker assassinated by militants in Kashmir is being disowned by both the PDP & Congress. If neither party is willing to own him as one of their own let’s just call him a NC worker so his death is not in vain.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 25, 2018
‘Nobody’s martyr’
The Patel family, which is in shock, hit out at the political parties for disowning the slain politician, who is survived by nine children including five daughters and two wives.
“This is how parties treat their workers in Kashmir. He (Patel) campaigned vigorously for Haseeb Drabu (the PDP legislator from Rajpora and former finance minister) during the last assembly election, putting his life at risk to ensure his win,” Patel’s brother Ali Mohammad told a local news agency.
There was some harsh criticism of the political parties on social media for denying Patel dignity in death. Political analyst Gowhar Geelani termed the disowning and trading of charges by the political parties as an “ugly and dirty brand of politics”.
Ghulam Nabi Patel, a political activist. A life lost to bullets. When alive, exploited by politicians. Once dead, the body disowned. That is how ugly and dirty a particular brand of politics is in #Kashmir. Use em’ when alive. Disown em’ once dead. Yes, how do you sleep at night?
— Gowhar Geelani (@gowhargeelani) April 25, 2018
“Ghulam Nabi Patel is nobody’s martyr,” wrote senior journalist Nazir Masoodi. “If he was a separatist he would have died as hero and owned by everyone in Kashmir.”
While everyone seemed to be aggrieved by his death, the fact that nobody owned him reflected the tragedy of Kashmir. “Ghulam Nabi Patel is being denied the dignity of having been assassinated for belonging to a political party just so the PDP & Congress can lie to their workers to claim they aren’t at risk from militant bullets,” Abdullah said in another tweet.
It was only late in the afternoon, after the media uncovered that Patel had joined the BJP more than a year ago, that party spokesperson Altaf Thakur confirmed this to a section of media. “He did not hold any party position but was associated with us for one year now,” said Thakur.
But in an official statement uploaded by Thakur on his Facebook page, there was no mention that Patel was a party man. Instead, BJP leaders including state president Sat Sharma and other members of the state party unit were quoted as condemning the killing of an “innocent man by militants”.
“Pained to learn about the brutal murder of an innocent man in Pulwama. Our deepest condolences to his family. Terrorists must realize that they cannot stop the people of the valley from choosing a better future for themselves,” BJP said leaders in the statement.
Even Drabu, for whom Patel worked to ensure his maiden election victory from Rajpora, chose his words carefully while condemning the killing.
Gh Nabi Patel, senior citizen & seasoned political worker associated for 40 years with mainstream parties shot dead. Mindless. Painful. RIP!
— Haseeb Drabu (@HaseebDrabu) April 25, 2018
“Nobody is owning slain Ghulam Nabi Patel. This is “mainstream” politics in Kashmir,” summed up journalist Ishfaq Tantry.
A chilling reminder
The broad daylight killing has, however, raised questions about the security of politicians, particularly those working from south Kashmir, which saw political killings as well as attacks on the house of politicians and J&K policemen last year too.
Patel’s is the second killing of a BJP worker from south Kashmir during the past six months and the first political killing this year. On November 2, 2017 party district youth president for Shopian Gowhar Ahmad Bhat’s body was found in an orchard Kiloora village.
Last year, at least 35 civilians including political workers were killed in south Kashmir, the highest ever in more than a decade. “While 8-10 slain persons were affiliated to political parties, the others were ‘non-political’ persons,” a police official said. The killings had brought back the fear of the early 1990s, when political workers had become the target of unidentified gunmen.
Mudasir Ahmad is a Srinagar-based reporter.