In 1986 the ruling National Conference, widely accused of corruption, came to an accord with Indian National Congress Party which threatened to erode what remained of Kashmir's autonomy.[10] Moreover, the growing emphasis on secularism led to a backlash with Islamic parties becoming more popular. The key players among these parties were theJamaat-e-Islami Kashmir and its student wing,Islami Jamiat-i Tulaba.[11]
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In response to these issues was formed the MUF, which attracted support from separatists, youth and the pro-PakistanJamaat-e-Islami.[10] MUF's election manifesto stressed the need to solve all outstanding issues according to theSimla Agreement, work for Islamic unity and against political interference from the centre. Their slogan in public rallies was wanting the law of the Quran in the Assembly.[12]
The Islamic political coalition mobilized support on the basis ofKashmiriyat.[13][full citation needed][14] The movement's grassroots campaign was said to be 'enthusiastically energetic', attracting youth activists who had been born in the 1960s. A Pandit activist recorded in her memoirs that there had been a 'wave' in favour of the MUF in early 1987 in the Valley.[15]
The 1987 election witnessed the highest record of voters participation, with eighty per cent of the people in the Valley having voted.[16]
The election of 1987 were considered to be the most compromised in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.[17] Voting was held in the Valley on 23 March 1987 and a Delhi-based magazine reported that strong arms tactics and rigging were used all over the Valley and gangs took over the polling stations forcibly and ballot boxes were pre-stamped in favour of the National Conference.[15]
The MUF won in only 4 of the 43 electoral constituencies it had contested, although it received a vote share of 31.9%.[18][note 1] ScholarVictoria Schofield has stated that the MUF might have won four more seats if there was no electoral fraud.[21] On the other hand, an anonymous source in theIntelligence Bureau has advanced the estimate that the MUF may have lost approximately 13 seats due to electoral malpractice.[22]
Instead of punishing those responsible for the rigging the Government arrested and tortured the MUF activists.[23] According to Bose the number of activists arrested and tortured was in the hundreds and possibly thousands. Most of them were kept in custody until late 1987 or early 1988. Among those activists arrested wasYasin Malik and Mohammad Yusuf Shah.[16]
Many younger supporters of MUF started to support the militant organisations which had up till the election seen a wane in their support and numerical strength.[10] According to Maulana Abbas Ansari, a member of the Muslim United Front, the youth would have not picked up the gun nor have known of Nehru's promise of a plebiscite to the people of Kashmir had the election not been rigged.[7]
Scholars see that the rise in the organisation's support caused the Congress-National Conference alliance to rig the1987 election.[24][25]
^The Muslim United Front polled 470,580 votes by the official count,[19] out of 1,477,250 votes cast in the Valley,[20] representing 31.9% vote share. Its share of votes in the whole state was 18.9%.[18]
^Muslim United Front. Oxford University Press. Archived fromthe original on 12 March 2017.An alliance of Islamic parties organized to contest the 1987 state elections in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The alliance won only three seats, allegedly due to massive electoral fraud. The group's poor showing in 1987 inspired a new phase of armed resistance to Indian rule in Kashmir that continues today.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
^Amin, Tahir;Schofield, Victoria,"Kashmir",The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Oxford University Press, archived fromthe original on 5 November 2018 "Culturally, a growing emphasis on secularism generated a backlash, contributing to the popularity of Islamic political parties, especially the Jamāʿat-iIslāmī (established in 1953) and the Islāmī Jamʿīyat-i Tulabā, its allied student body."
^Varshney, Ashutosh (November 1991). "India, Pakistan, and Kashmir: Antinomies of Nationalism".Asian Survey.31 (11): 1015.doi:10.2307/2645304.JSTOR2645304.In the elections that followed in 1987, Kashmiriat was mobilized by a coalition of Islamic groups, known as the Muslim United Front (MUF).
^Varshney, Ashutosh (November 1991). "India, Pakistan, and Kashmir: Antinomies of Nationalism".Asian Survey.31 (11): 1016.doi:10.2307/2645304.JSTOR2645304.Watching the surge in MUF support, the Conference-Congress alliance rigged the 1987 elections
Amin, Tahir (2016),"The Kashmir Question"(PDF), in Abdulrahim Ali; Iba Der Thiam; Yusof A. Talib (eds.),Islam in the World Today, Part 1 (The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture, Volume 6), UNESCO Publishing, pp. 349–368