‘Wo Jo Tarigam Wala’; Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami became a shadow in Kashmir

Another revolutionary star has become a speck of coal from the snowy mountains of Kashmir. Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami, the CPM candidate from Kulgam, who sought votes after reporting the central government’s injustice against Jammu and Kashmir, won by a landslide. In Kerala, the southernmost region of the country, CPM has 59 MLAs of its own, and in the northern region, the CPM’s Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami will be in the assembly as the voice of Kashmir.

Tarigami, who is also a member of the Central Committee of the CPM, led the campaign by pointing out that the most important thing is to regain the status of the state. The development activities implemented in the constituency when he was a four-time MLA helped with the fifth victory. With the National Conference and Congress also declaring their support for Tarigami, victory was assured.

Tarigami’s campaign was widely noticed in an open carriage with bicycles with red flags. Along with national issues, Tarigami faced the elections with the severe unemployment faced by Kashmiri youth and the problems faced by apple farmers as the main campaign issues.

Tarigami’s main rivals were independent candidate Zair Ahmed Rashi and Muhammad Amin Dhar of PDP. Former Zair leader Ahmed Rashi contested as an independent when Jamaat-e-Islami was banned. Tarigami was first elected to the Legislative Assembly from Kulgam in 1996. The success was repeated in 2002, 2008 and 2014.

In 2019, when Kashmir’s special status was revoked, he spent months under house arrest. It was only after this that Tarigami became prominent on a national level. With the Supreme Court’s permission, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yachuri visited Tarigami’s house and informed the court about the plight of Kashmiris. On his arrival in Delhi, Tarigami argued strongly for the restoration of Kashmir’s special status and statehood, and captured national attention.

How the name came about

Known as Muhammad Yusuf, he began to be known as Tarigami with a press conference. At a press conference, Sheikh Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was asked by a journalist from the news agency about the arrest of Muhammad Yusuf. ‘Wo jo tarigam wala’ (is he the one in that tarigami) was the chief minister’s reply. Since then, the media began to write his name as Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami. Tarigami is the town where Muhammad Yusuf was born.

Emergency, death of wife

Born into a farming family, Tarigami had a turbulent childhood. The main reason for this was political instability in Kashmir. During his life, he could not write BA final year exam due to struggle. During the crisis, his pregnant wife died in 1975 while he was a political prisoner. With this, the government gave permission for a month. But after three days he was arrested again.

Popular among the people

Tarigami, a former CPM state secretary, faced several harassments during his political career. Yusuf Tarigami became a communist under the influence of CPM leader Abdul Kabir Wani. At the age of 18, his friend and current CPM Jammu and Kashmir Secretary Ghulam Nabi Malik was arrested by the police for the first time.

The arrest was during a riot related to Colaiste Ceum Anantnag, the riot was successful in history. Both became part of a local communist group called the Revolutionary Students and Youth Federation. Tarigami participated in several peasant riots in Jammu and Kashmir under peasant leader Abdul Khader. After joining the CPM, senior leader Ram Pyare was closely associated with Saraf and served as his mentor.

In 1967, he was imprisoned for participating in a farmers’ strike against the purchase of rice. In the meantime, he worked with the CPI-Marxist-Leninist Naxalite group and was brutally beaten in prison.

In 2005, terrorists who entered Tulsibagh colony under Srinagar guard attacked the homes of Tarigami and Education Minister Ghulam Nabi Lone, killing Lone. In particular, Tarigami’s battle in the Supreme Court was challenging the order of the Union Home Ministry that allowed people from all over the country to buy land, including land​​​​ of agriculture, in Jammu and Kashmir. When Tarigami returns to the Legislative Assembly with a history of struggle, many people must have thought about it.