Srinagar, Aug 26 :In what seems to be an outpouring of emotions, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) President Sajad Gani Lone today expressed his satisfaction over the news that individuals affiliated with Jamaat Islamia will be contesting in the upcoming assembly elections. He stated that Jamaat has a history of struggle and a deep understanding of pain and suffering, which puts them in a better position to empathize with and represent the plight of Kashmiris.
“I am extremely pleased if the news that some individuals affiliated with Jamaat Islamia are contesting elections is true. I sincerely hope it is. While my party and Jamaat have coexisted in the mainstream political space before 1989, we rarely agreed politically and often fought each other bitterly in elections. Ideologically there was never an overlap. Many of Jamaat’s prominent leaders spent years in jail, sometimes alongside my late father. Today, we will be contesting against them on the ground once again. But despite our political differences, I am glad to see a party with such a history of struggle participating in these elections”, he remarked.
Reflecting on the struggles of JeI leaders, Lone stressed that “Jamaat’s leaders have experienced imprisonment, torture, and some of the most harrowing times. They know what pain is and are therefore in a better position to understand the suffering of others”, he added.
Lone also revisited the debate between “VICTIMS and VICTORS.” He stated that the mainstream space has been dominated by those he described as “victors”—individuals responsible for jailing, killing, and torturing people during the worst times of violence post-1989.
“These victors, being in the majority, banded together and pretended to be victims.
They have become experts in the art of VICTIMHOOD. Whenever a genuine victim enters the mainstream, these victors gang up and launch slanderous campaigns.”
Lone further noted that the ‘Victors’ occupied the sacred Victim space purely because they were in a brute majority within the mainstream camp, effectively crowding out the real victims.
“In their worldview, a victim must remain a victim forever. If a victim dares to rise above their suffering, they are quickly branded as collaborators”, he added.
He expressed hope that the sacred Victim space is cleared of these trespassers, allowing true victims to represent themselves.
“The greatest insult to victims is when those who caused their suffering pretend to speak on their behalf. Those who have died cannot protest when the very victors who sent them to their graves claim to represent them”, he added
He further warned Jamaat of the potential challenges they might face from the dominant mainstream political forces, stating, “Very soon, these mainstream VICTORS will launch a sustained slander campaign, both covertly and overtly. They will be supported by a section of the media, which will publish stories based on so-called sources, especially in the national media. The so-called secular media will be the first to spread such canards—they will, in essence, write to kill”, he added.
Concluding on a note of solidarity despite political differences, he said, “But once again, a very warm welcome from me and my party. We will fight each other on the ground, but with my hand on my heart, I am glad that a group among the victims will contest. May Allah bless us all.”
