null The gunning down of All Party Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone by unidentified assailants in Srinagar on Tuesday, perhaps, marks the beginning of the challenge terrorism poses to the holding of elections in Jammu and Kashmir. That his killers struck on the eve of Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s visit to the state Capital could not have been a mere coincidence. After all, one of the primary objectives of Vajpayee’s visit is to build an atmosphere for conducting free and fair elections with the participation of all the mainstream political parties. The assassination of Lone is definitely a setback for the election process. It is true that he had not evinced any interest in taking part in the elections. In fact, on many occasions he had stated the Hurriyat position that it would take part in the elections only if certain conditions, which would be difficult for any self-respecting government to accept, were fulfilled. Nonetheless, many in the government believed that Lone was the best bet among the Hurriyat leaders and he could be expected to persuade fellow leaders to fall in line. This was because, unlike many other Hurriyat leaders, Lone had taken part in elections and knew the advantages of the democratic system. It would be pertinent to recall that he was a leading light on the opposition benches until 1980 when he got disenchanted with electoral politics.

Small wonder that Lone was often described as the most moderate among the Hurriyat leaders. In fact, those who knew him from his days as a leader of the People’s Conference often wondered how he adjusted himself with the rabble-rousers and gun-wielders who came under the umbrella of the Hurriyat. Perhaps, he could not have imagined at that time that he would have to pay a price for his political adventurism. It is not that he had not received any warning. In November last a daring attempt was made on him when militants attacked his house. But instead of recognising the real source of the threat to his life, he blamed the Central and state agencies for the incident. Nonetheless, it should be said to his credit that notwithstanding such threats, he did not give up his political campaign. He showed extraordinary fortitude when a Shiv Sena leader roughed him up while he was addressing the Press on a visit to Jammu in April.