Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Indian politician}}
#REDIRECT [[Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
 
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
{{R from move}}
| name                = Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami
| image              = File:Tarigami269.jpg
| caption            = M. Y. Tarigami
| birth_date          = {{Birth date and age|1949|07|17|df=y}}
| birth_place        = Tarigam, Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir
| residence          = [[Kulgam]]
| office1            = [[Member of Legislative Assembly (India)|Member]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly]]
| constituency1      = [[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Kulgam]]
| term_start1        = 1996
| term_end1          = 2018
| party              = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
| region              =
| website            = http://massstruggle.com/
| footnotes          =
| date                = |
| year                = |
| source              =
| office2            =
| termstart2          =
| termend2            =
| office              = Spokesperson of [[People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration]]
| termstart          =  9 June 2021
}}
}}
'''Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami''' is an [[Indian politician]] from [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. He is the Convenor and Spokesperson of [[People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration|People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration]].<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|last=Ali|first=Jehangir|title=After Months of Turmoil and Dormancy, PAGD Puts up United Face in J&K|url=https://thewire.in/politics/pagd-mehbooba-mufti-farooq-abdullah-jammu-and-kashmir|url-status=live|website=The Wire}}</ref>
He earlier represented the [[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Kulgam Assembly Constituency]] in the [[Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly]] in 1996, 2002, 2008 and 2014.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=2002 Assembly Constituency-wise Results at a Glance|url=https://ceojk.nic.in/pdf/const_res_glance.pdf|url-status=live|website=Chief Electoral Officer, UT of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Detailed Results, 2008 Assembly Election|url=https://ceojk.nic.in/pdf/10-Detailed%20Results.pdf|url-status=live|website=Chief Electoral Officer, UT of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Iqbal|first=Aadil Ikram Zaki|date=2014-12-23|title=Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election Results 2014: Complete list of winning candidates|url=https://www.india.com/news/india/jammu-and-kashmir-assembly-election-results-2014-complete-list-of-winning-candidates-230461/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=India News, Breaking News {{!}} India.com|language=en}}</ref> He is the Central Committee Member of [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] and the former state secretary of CPI(M) in Kashmir.
== Early life ==
Tarigami was born on 17 July 1949 to a farmer family at Tarigam village of Kulgam.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=24 December 2020|title=This 71-yr-old leader is reason no one's surprised by Left's good show in Kashmir DDC polls|url=https://theprint.in/politics/this-71-yr-old-leader-is-reason-no-ones-surprised-by-lefts-good-show-in-kashmir-ddc-polls/572837/|url-status=live}}</ref> His family name, comes from his village – Tarigam. His father is Late Gulam Rasool Rather.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami(Communist Party of India (Marxist)(CPI(M))):Constituency- KULGAM(KULGAM) - Affidavit Information of Candidate|url=https://myneta.info/jk2014/candidate.php?candidate_id=204|access-date=2021-05-21|website=myneta.info}}</ref> He could not appear for the B.A. Final Year examination, due to the political turbulence in Kashmir.<ref name=":4" /> He lost his wife in childbirth in 1975, during which he was a political prisoner.<ref name=":12" />
== Political life ==
Yousuf Tarigami was shaped as a communist under the influence of Abdul Kabir Wani of chawalgam. In 1967, when he was 18, Tarigami and his friend Ghulam Nabi Malik, now the J&K secretary of the CPI(M), organised a protest to demand an increase in intake capacity at Anantnag Degree College.<ref name=":12" /> The two were then part of a local communist group called the Revolutionary Students and Youth Federation.<ref name=":12" /> They did a hunger strike for 36 hours at the deputy commissioner’s office and the authorities were forced to raise the total intake of the college.<ref name=":12" /> After the successful campaign, Tarigami took part in various farmer movements in J&K under farmer leader Abdul Qadir, but their political activism took a more solid shape when they joined the Democratic Conference, which was part of the CPI(M), in 1967.<ref name=":12" /> Tarigami grew close to communist leader Ram Pyaare Saraf and served as his understudies. When Saraf split from the CPI(M) to lend support to the Naxalite movement and joined the CPI (Marxist-Leninist), so did tarigami.<ref name=":12" />
In 1967, he was imprisoned for taking up the cause of farmers against the forcible procurement of rice. After the 1975 Indira-Sheikh Accord, under which Jammu and Kashmir was made a constituent unit of the Union of India, Tarigami demanded the right to self-determination, and his activism landed him in jail. While he was in prison, his wife died. The government released him on parole for a month but rearrested him after three days.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-16|title=Yusuf Tarigami - Kashmir's Communist|url=https://www.newsclick.in/yusuf-tarigami-kashmir-communist-CPIM|access-date=2021-05-21|website=NewsClick|language=en}}</ref>
In 1979, when the execution of former Pakistan PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto led to riots in Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, confronted Marxists and Tarigami became among the first people to be booked under the controversial Public Safety Act (PSA).<ref name=":12" /> In the aftermath of the Bhutto episode, both Malik and Tarigami rejoined the CPI(M) and restarted their journey in Kulgam as mainstream politicians.<ref name=":12" /> In his political journey, he has been imprisoned in various jails like the Sub-Jail Reasi, the very dangerous torture centres of Red-16 and Papa II.
In 2005, militants entered the heavily guarded Tulsibagh colony in Srinagar and attacked the homes of Tarigami and the Minister for Education Ghulam Nabi Lone. Lone was killed. (In 2015, ten years after Ghulam Nabi Lone's death, there was another minister in Kashmir with the same name belonging to People's Democratic Party PDP)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-journalist-beating-agriculture-minister-ghulam-nabi-lone-willing-for-apology-after-uproar-2098259|title=Journalist beating: Agriculture Minister Ghulam Nabi Lone willing for apology after uproar|date=23 June 2015}}</ref> In the attack in 2005, Tarigami's guards fought off the attackers, although one of his guards was killed.<ref name="News">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newsclick.in/yusuf-tarigami-kashmir-communist-CPIM |title=Yusuf Tarigami - Kashmir's Communist |last=Prasad |first=Vijay |date=16 Sep 2019 |work=Newsclick |access-date=16 Sep 2019}}</ref> He is a Z category protectee by Government of India.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last1=DelhiSeptember 16|first1=Aneesha Mathur New|last2=September 16|first2=2019UPDATED|last3=Ist|first3=2019 11:48|title=CPM leader Tarigami free to return to Kashmir: SC|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cpm-leader-tarigami-free-to-return-to-kashmir-sc-1599576-2019-09-16|access-date=2021-05-21|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref>
In 2016, he slammed the former MP [[Tariq Hameed Karra]] for resigning from Lok Sabha membership and said he should have raised the Kashmir issue in Indian Parliament.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|date=2016-09-28|title=Tariq Hameed Karra should have raised Kashmir issue in Parliament: CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/tariq-hameed-karra-should-have-raised-kashmir-issue-in-parliament-cpim-leader-mohammad-yousuf-tarigami-3054742/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> He added that the dialogue with Kashmir should not be through interlocutors but with the involvement of the Parliament by constituting a committee of senior Parliamentarians.<ref name=":5" /> He views the tradition of Kashmir as built on the sacrifices of the working class. He said that the Zaldagar martyrs of 1865 laid the foundation of a struggle against the exploitation and atrocities on the artisans and the Shawlbaff protest launched at Zaldagar against the ruling class has given vent to numerous movements of the working class which are awaiting successful culmination.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-01|title=Tradition of Kashmir has always been sacrifices of working class: Tarigami|url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/tradition-of-kashmir-has-always-been-sacrifices-of-working-class-tarigami/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Greater Kashmir|language=en-US}}</ref>
He saw the BJP’s policy ''vis-a-vis'' Kashmir as successful in distracting people from pressing issues such as unemployment and economic stagnation by centring its campaign around Kashmir as a vehicle to further its bellicose nationalism.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Bhakto|first=Anando|title=Operation Kashmir|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article27660338.ece|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Frontline|language=en}}</ref> He views BJP's approach on Articles 370 and 35A as a great disservice to the nation’s unity as it will lead to disintegration of the State of J&K from India, also by eroding the Kashmiris’ sense of unity with the nation.<ref name=":6" />
=== After abrogation of Article 370 ===
Immediately after the abrogation of Article 370, Tarigami was placed in house arrest at Srinagar for 35 days.<ref name=":10" />  In August 2019, CPI(M) General Secretary [[Sitaram Yechury]] filed a Habeas corpus petition in Supreme Court to find Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, who was targeted by Jammu & Kashmir athourity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=മുഹമ്മദ് യൂസഫ് തരിഗാമിക്കായി സുപ്രീംകോടതിയില്‍ ഹേബിയസ് കോര്‍പ്പസ് ഹര്‍ജി|url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/mohammad-yousuf-tarigami-habeas-corpus-petition-filed-by-supreme-court-cpm-1.4065333|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en}}</ref> Sitaram Yechury was allowed by the court to visit Jammu and Kashmir only to meet his party colleague.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=SrinagarAugust 29|first1=Press Trust of India|last2=August 29|first2=2019UPDATED|last3=Ist|first3=2019 18:30|title=Sitaram Yechury in Srinagar, meets ailing colleague Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sitaram-yechury-srinagar-meets-mohammed-yousuf-tarigami-1593165-2019-08-29|access-date=2021-05-21|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref> Yousuf Tarigami, was kept under detention in Srinagar since Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status, and he was shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi for medical care, following a Supreme Court order on September 5, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Scroll Staff|title=J&K: Detained CPI(M) leader moved to Delhi for treatment after Supreme Court order|url=https://scroll.in/latest/936721/j-k-detained-cpi-m-leader-moved-to-delhi-for-treatment-after-supreme-court-order|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref> Supreme Court later allowed him to return freely to Kashmir.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Scroll Staff|title=CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami is free to return to Kashmir, says Supreme Court|url=https://scroll.in/latest/937464/cpi-m-leader-mohammed-yousuf-tarigami-is-free-to-return-to-kashmir-says-supreme-court|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mahajan|first=Shruti|title=Supreme Court allows J&K CPI (M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami to return to Kashmir|url=https://www.barandbench.com/news/supreme-court-allows-jk-cpi-m-leader-mohammed-yousuf-tarigami-to-return-to-kashmir|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news|language=en}}</ref>
Tarigami was the first political leader from the state to address a press conference after the abrogation of Article 370.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|author=Scroll Staff|title=J&K: 'We are not terrorists', says CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami|url=https://scroll.in/latest/937644/j-k-we-are-not-terrorists-says-cpi-m-leader-mohammed-yousuf-tarigami|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref> He slammed the modi Government for detaining former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah under the Public Safety Act.<ref name=":11" /> He said, “We, Abdullah and others are not terrorists,... We also want to live, a Kashmiri, is saying this,”..This is my appeal, please listen to us too. The average Kashmiri doesn’t ask for heavens, we just ask for a chance to march with you.”<ref name=":11" />
Tarigami approached the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that allowed people from across the country to buy land in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, including agricultural land.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roy|first=Radhika|date=2020-12-01|title=CPI(M) Leader Tarigami Moves Supreme Court Challenging MHA Order Allowing Outsiders To Buy Land In Jammu & Kashmir|url=https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/cpim-leader-tarigami-moves-supreme-court-challenging-home-ministrys-orders-allowing-any-person-to-buy-land-in-jammu-and-kashmir-166654|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.livelaw.in|language=en}}</ref> In the aftermath of repealing Article 370, he said, "Kashmiris have been humiliated, feel betrayed."<ref name=":8">{{Cite news|last=Mohan|first=Archis|date=2019-10-26|title=Kashmiris have been humiliated, feel betrayed: Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/politics/kashmiris-have-been-humiliated-feel-betrayed-mohammed-yousuf-tarigami-119102600743_1.html|access-date=2021-05-21}}</ref> He refuted the government claim that there is normalcy in Kashmir, and pointed out that Modi Government made Kashmir into graveyards.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite web|author=Scroll Staff|title=Kashmir has been turned into a graveyard, says CPI(M) leader released from detention|url=https://scroll.in/latest/948750/kashmir-has-been-turned-into-a-graveyard-says-cpi-m-leader-released-from-detention|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref>
On 24 October 2020 he was elected as the convenor of the [[People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration]] (PAGD).<ref>{{cite news|date=24 October 2020|title=Farooq Abdullah to lead Gupkar alliance|work=[[The Hindu]]|agency=[[Press Trust of India|PTI]]|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/farooq-abdullah-named-chairman-of-peoples-alliance-for-gupkar-declaration-mehbooba-mufti-to-be-deputy/article32936487.ece}}</ref> The seven-party PAGD swept the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls by winning 110 seats out of 276 seats, and Tarigami said that the results was a clear indication that the people of Jammu and Kashmir want "restoration of their rights".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gupkar alliance's success clear indication of what people of J&K want: Tarigami|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/dec/23/gupkar-alliancessuccess-clear-indication-of-what-people-of-jk-want-tarigami-2240191.html|access-date=2021-05-21|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> He said that, for the PAGD, the dignity of the people of J&K matters the most.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rashid|first=Hakeem Irfan|title=Way forward in J&K is up to centre: CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/way-forward-in-jk-is-up-to-centre-tarigami/articleshow/77710525.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst|access-date=2021-05-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=BHAKTO|first=ANANDO|title=Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami: Threads of resistance are available|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30327935.ece|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Frontline|language=en}}</ref>
He called on Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor [[Manoj Sinha]] and raised the issue of the encounter in Srinagar’s Hokersar-Lawaypora.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|date=2021-01-05|title=Yousuf Tarigami calls on J-K LG, demands probe into Hokersar encounter|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/yousuf-tarigami-calls-on-j-k-lg-demands-probe-into-hokersar-encounter/story-YVdtjmgSBXZdVUNQiK9hII.html|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref> He demanded an impartial and time-bound probe into the incident in which three youths including a 17-year-old from South Kashmir’s Pulwama and Shopian districts were killed on December 30 inside a house in Hokersar on the outskirts of Srinagar by the security forces in an encounter.<ref name=":7" /> He slammed New Delhi and the UT administration for utilising the pandemic and security induced lockdown to pass contentious laws without consultation, confident that there would be no resistance.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhat|first=Gulzar|date=2020-08-03|title=It was a 'monumental blunder' and a year has been wasted in Kashmir: Md Yousuf Tarigami|url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/it-was-a-monumental-blunder-and-a-year-has-been-wasted-in-kashmir-md-yousuf-tarigami|access-date=2021-05-21|website=National Herald|language=en}}</ref>
Tarigami argued that there was no need for the J&K administration to constitute a special task force (STF) to deal with government employees allegedly involved in “anti-national activities” as there were already enough provisions in the law to act against such people.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Service|first=Tribune News|title=Decision on STF arbitrary, says Tarigami|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/j-k/decision-on-stf-arbitrary-says-tarigami-242727|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Tribuneindia News Service|language=en}}</ref> He also demanded the release of Kashmiri “political detainees” lodged in various jails within the Valley in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Service|first=Tribune News|title=Tarigami seeks release of 'political detainees'|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/j-k/tarigami-seeks-release-of-political-detainees-251663|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Tribuneindia News Service|language=en}}</ref> Further, he urged the government to provide adequate incentives and wages to ASHA workers on the pattern of COVID-19 warriors of the Health and Medical Education Department.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-06|title=Tarigami urges LG to include ASHAs in incentive scheme for COVID-19 warriors|url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/tarigami-urges-lg-to-include-ashas-in-incentive-scheme-for-covid-19-warriors/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Greater Kashmir|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=KNS|title=KNS|url=http://www.knskashmir.com/tarigami-urges-jandk-lg-to-include-ashas-in-incentive-scheme-for-covid-10-warriors-76681|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.knskashmir.com|language=en-GB}}</ref>
==== People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration ====
Tarigami is the Convenor and Spokesperson of [[People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration|People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration]], an alliance of regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir committed for the restoration of Article 370.<ref name=":13" />
The alliance is headed by headed by National Conference chief [[Farooq Abdullah|Dr Farooq Abdullah]] and it includes [[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference]], [[Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party]], [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], [[Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference]] and [[Jammu & Kashmir People's Movement]].
=== Electoral Politics ===
Tarigami was repeatedly successful in electoral polls from the Kulgam constituency. He became the Member of Legislative Assembly from [[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)]] in 1996, 2002, 2008 and 2014 assembly polls. In 1996 assembly polls, his winning margin was 51.56 percentage.<ref name=":0" /> He sustained the constituency in 2002, 2008 and 2014 by a winning margin of 30.27, 0.47 and 0.63 percentage respectively.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite web|title=Jammu & Kashmir 2014|url=https://eci.gov.in/files/file/3797-jammu-kashmir-2014/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Election Commission of India|language=en-IN}}</ref> He was also the only elected communist politician in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative assembly during these times.
{| class="wikitable"
|+1996, 2002, 2008 & 2014 Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Election<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Election Results in 1996|url=https://www.elections.in/jammu-and-kashmir/assembly-constituencies/1996-election-results.html|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.elections.in}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":9" />
!Constituency
!Year of Election
!Name of Winner
!Party
!Votes Polled (%)
!Runner up
!Party
!Votes Polled (%)
|-
|[[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Kulgam]]
|1996
|Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami
|[[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
|69.65
|Habibullah Laway
|[[Janata Dal]]
|18.09
|-
|[[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Kulgam]]
|2002
|Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami
|[[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
|51.72
|Gh.Nabi Dar
|[[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference]]
|21.45
|-
|[[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Kulgam]]
|2008
|Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami
|[[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
|34.24
|[[Nazir Ahmad Laway]]
|[[Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party]]
|33.77
|-
|[[Kulgam (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Kulgam]]
|2014
|Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami
|[[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
|38.69
|[[Nazir Ahmad Laway]]
|[[Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party]]
|38.06
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarigami, Mohammed Yousuf}}
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2014–2018]]
[[Category:People from Kulgam district]]
[[Category:1949 births]]

Latest revision as of 21:54, 16 October 2024