Jammu and Kashmir Awami League

2021-05-30T22:03:03Z

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{{Short description|Political party in Jammu and Kashmir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
The '''Jammu and Kashmir Awami League''' is a [[political party]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. The party was founded by members of different counter-insurgent groups in November 1995.<ref name="Sahni1999">{{cite book|author=Sati Sahni|title=Kashmir underground|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVhuAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|pages=206, 208–209}}</ref> It supports [[article 370]] of the [[Indian constitution]], granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The party argues that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have the right to self-determination within the Indian constitutional framework, but not accession to Pakistan nor independence.<ref name="Sahni1999"/>

== History and organization ==
The party was founded by members of different counter-insurgent groups in November 1995.<ref name="Sahni1999" /> [[Kuka Parray|Mohammad Yusuf Parray (alias Kuka Parray)]], the chief of Ikhwan-ul-Musalmoon, was the founding chairman of the party.<ref name="Sahni1999" /><ref name="Chaudhary2011">{{cite book|author=Praveen Kumar Chaudhary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ys-7mlzEY8C&pg=PA225|title=Communal Crimes and National Integration: A Socio-legal Study|publisher=Readworthy|year=2011|isbn=978-93-5018-040-2|page=225}}</ref> Mir Niyazi, a former [[Hizbul Mujahideen]] commander, became the general secretary and Javed Hussain Shah its vice chairman.<ref name="Sahni1999" />

On 20 April 1996 the new party held its first larger election meeting at its office in [[Srinagar]]. The meeting was attacked by militants, who threw a hand grenade and fired gunshots. Two people were injured in the attack.<ref name="Sahni1999"/>

After the merger of Ikhwan-ul-Musalmoon and Hilal Haider's South Kashmir Ikhwan, Hyder's political wing the Awami Conference merged into the J&K Awami League. On 30 July 1996 the party made public its leadership; Kuku Parray as chairman, Mir Ghulam Nabi Niyazi as general secretary, Javed Hussain Shah as senior vice chairman, Abdul Hameed Rather as junior vice chairman, S.K. Tikoo as official spokesperson and Abdur Rashid Misgar as chief organiser.<ref name="Sahni1999"/>

The party was recognised by the [[Election Commission of India]] as a state party in Jammu and Kashmir on 21 August 1996.<ref name="Sahni1999"/> The party fielded 27 candidates in the 1996 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative election. In total they obtained 60,437 votes (2.43% of the votes). Parray won the Sonawari seat.<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1996/StatisticalReport-JK96.pdf State Election, 1996 to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir]''</ref> At the time of the election, the [[Indian National Congress|Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress]] president [[Ghulam Rasool Kar]] labelled to party as 'a government outfit' in an interview.<ref name="Khan2012">{{cite book|author=Nyla Ali Khan|title=The Parchment of Kashmir: History, Society, and Polity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RRbIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|date=6 August 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-02958-4|page=52}}</ref>

== 1998 Indian general election ==
Abdul Majid Gawali stood at the candidate of the party in the [[1998 Indian general election]] in the [[Baramulla (Lok Sabha constituency)|Baramulla seat]]. He finished in third place with 20,843 votes (6.87%).<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1998/Vol_I_LS_98.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1998 TO THE 12th LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718181833/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1998/Vol_I_LS_98.pdf |date=2014-07-18 }}''</ref> In the [[1999 Indian general election|Lok Sabha elections held in 1999]] the party contested the Baramulla, [[Srinagar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Srinagar]] and [[Anantnag (Lok Sabha constituency)|Anantnag]] seats. The candidates obtained 28,889 votes in total (1.84% of the votes).<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Election Commission of India |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1999/Vol_I_LS_99.pdf |title=Statistical Report on General Elections, 1999 to the Thirteenth LOK SABHA – Volume I (National and State Abstracts & Detailed Results) |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718183222/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1999/Vol_I_LS_99.pdf |archivedate=2014-07-18 }}</ref>

== 2002 Legislative Assembly election ==
Usman Abdul Majid and Hilal Haider split away from the party, forming the Awami Conference. However, they returned to the J&K Awami League in March 2002.<ref>{{cite web |work=The Tribune |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020305/j&k.htm#2 |title=Awami Conference, League merge}}</ref> In the 2002 Legislative Assembly election, the party ran nine candidates. Parray lost the Sonawari seat but Usman Abdul Majid won the nearby Bandipora seat. In total the candidates of the party got 24,121 votes (0.91% of the votes).<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_2002/StatRep_JK_02.pdf State Election, 2002 to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir]''</ref> During this period Parray became increasingly vocal in criticizing the Indian government, stating that they had used former militants for its own purposes.<ref name="b">''The Hindu''. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20031027105104/http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/14/stories/2003091406190100.htm Kuka Parrey shot dead]''</ref>

Javed Hussain Shah was killed in August 2003.<ref name="b"/> Parray was killed on 13 September 2003.<ref name="b"/><ref name="Bhandari2006">{{cite book |last=Bhandari |first=Mohan C. |title=Solving Kashmi r|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChbvL5i0O7YC&pg=PA199 |year=2006 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-81-7062-125-6 |page=199}}</ref> Other persons killed in the attack were Mohammed Akram (general secretary of the party) and Ali Mohammad.<ref name="b"/>

== 2004 Lok Sabha election ==
In the [[2004 Indian general election|2004 Lok Sabha election]] the party presented a single candidate; Peer Ali Shah in the Srinagar seat. He obtained 1,519 votes (0.78% of the votes in the constituency).<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_2004/Vol_I_LS_2004.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 2004 TO THE FOURTEENTH LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS)]''</ref> Likewise the party fielded one candidate in the [[2008 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election|2008 Legislative Assembly election]], Kuka Parray's 26-year-old son Imtiaz Ahmed Parray in Sonewari. Parray finished in third place with 6,472 votes (12.79% of the votes in the constituency).<ref>Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/AE2008/stats_report_JK2008.pdf State Election, 2008 to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir]''</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=The Indian Express |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/j-k-senior-leaders--kin-grab-plum-posts-in-yc/827021/ |title=J&K: Senior leaders’ kin grab plum posts in YC}}</ref>

As of 2010 Uttam Chand Talotra was the chairman of the minority cell of the party.<ref>''Early Times''. ''[http://www.earlytimes.in/newsdet.aspx?q=59803 Include Awami League in dialogue process, demands Talotra]''</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Political parties in India]]
[[Category:1995 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1995]]

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Jammu and Kashmir Awami League