THE NEW-GEN MUFTI

It has been close to 60 years now, but Fatima's political loyalties have never wavered.

- Moazum Mohammad

A devoted supporter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, she vividly recalls the first time the late chief minister won from Bijbehara in Anantnag district-in the 1967 assembly election, 33 years before he founded the Peoples Democratic Party. Now battling multiple age-related health issues, the nonagenarian still lives with the memories of the Mufti having lunch at their home. "I never feel old when I vote for the Muftis," says Fatima sitting on her porch, a few metres away from the shrine of Hazrat Baba Naseeb-ud-din Ghazi in a narrow alley of Bijbehara. The Muftis hail from a family of clerics and have a spiritual association with the shrine adjacent to their ancestral home.

Bijbehara is part of the RajouriAnantnag Lok Sabha constituency, and Fatima's vote this time had naturally gone to the late leader's daughter Mehbooba Mufti. She lost, though. "Haar jeet chune masle (Win or lose is not a criterion).

They gave us roads, piped water and jobs. Soun vote te dua chu yeman seet. Wan chu asee panin kor kamyaab karin. Tamis chu yete matamaal. (Our vote and prayers are with them. Now we have to ensure our daughter wins from her maternal home." The reference is to Mebooba's elder daughter, Iltija Mufti, 33, who is making her assembly poll debut.