The elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) on July 25 resulted in the victory of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which bagged 26 out of 45 seats in the AJ&K Legislative Assembly. However, other parties too ran intensive election campaigns across the region and successfully mobilised the youth and women through their use of social media tools.

The youth make up 65 percent of the AJ&K population of 4.5 million. They are mostly educated and tech-savvy. It is a widely acknowledged fact that social media activists played a major role in the recent election. All political parties not only established their social media teams, comprising mostly young people, but also hired paid bloggers to promote their agenda and brand their leading candidates.

The extensive use of social media in politics has dramatically changed the way campaigns are run. All local newspapers, political parties, activists’ groups and independent candidates have their social media pages, using these as platforms for spreading their messages. Moreover, the Kashmiri youth based abroad created YouTube channels that held debates and discussions about the manifestoes of different parties and their future plans. Shaheen Kausar Dar, the PPP social media head, also established a group consisting of 80 young volunteers who played an important role in the PPP’s electoral success. She has said that without the help of the social media team, the PPP could not have run such an effective campaign.

Around 1.5 million Kashmiri people live overseas. The United Kingdom (UK) alone is home to nearly 100,000 Kashmiris, mainly from the Mirpur region. Despite being UK citizens, these people have kept their roots intact and are actively involved in AJ&K politics through social media. Talking to The News on Sunday (TNS), Norway-based Kashmiri activist Ali Shahnawaz Khan said that he had written more than 300 posts on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp groups aiming to attract public support for his party and encouraging candidates.

Most of the Urdu language TV channels and newspapers published in the UK were full of statements and articles about the AJ&K elections during the last two months. Social media were pulsating with comments for and against the participating parties. Through strong social media campaigning and youth activism, a strong social network was formed. It played an important role in public mobilisation as well and resulted in a high voter turnout of 58 percent.

Raja Wasim, press secretary to former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider said that the massive number of people that came to Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s 28 public gatherings was a result of the efforts by the PML-N social media wing. He said the social media came in handy in spreading political messages and information.

The region has a 2.6 million female population according to the Planning and Development Department of the government of Azad Kashmir. The increased participation of women across the region in the recent elections was recorded with utter surprise. Unlike the previous elections, held in 2016, 20 women contested the elections this time.

Almost all political parties awarded tickets to women. The Jammu Kashmir Democratic Party (JKDP) gave tickets to three women, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) fielded two women each, and the Muslim Conference (MC) one. As many as 12 women candidates ran independently.

Women activists also played an important role in convincing public to vote for their parties. For the first time, women participated in public gatherings and made speeches along with the male leaders. Sidra Sudozai told TNS that her party, the PTI, had recruited over 100 young men and women to spread the party’s narrative and help the candidates connect with the masses.

Nayla Kayani, a Muzaffarabad-based activist, told TNS that it was surprising that the PPP, commonly known as a women-friendly party, had not been able to field a woman candidate. The fact attracted criticism from several civil society activists.

Apart from contesting elections, the women wings of all political parties ran massive door-to-door campaigns. The PTI and the PPP social media wings’ female activists managed media posts day in and day out. Female candidates were of great help in recruiting volunteers, targeting voters, and drawing campaign plans. The equitable participation of women in politics is vital in building and sustaining strong, vibrant democracies.

The youth participation has also improved. The youth, with help of social media, played an essential role in the AJ&K elections. Five of them, Shoaib Abid, Kamran Bashir, Azeem Baksh, Shadaab Khan and Rizwan Ahmed contested the elections independently. They managed to bag a reasonable number of votes from Hajirah, Dadyal, Chaksawari, Khuiratta Kotli and Kotli City respectively, without any support from political parties. This showed that young people are coming forward in order to voice their opinions, influence decisions and contribute to practical solutions of the problemsfor advancing development.

The PTI also awarded five tickets to people below the age of 40 who secured a significant number of votes and ran enthusiastic campaigns against some political stalwarts. Youth civic engagement is important as they bring a unique perspective on local issues and new ideas to the table. This youth participation is integral to the progress and uplift of the local communities.

A problem highlighted by many activists was the absence of 4G internet, often slowing down the communication.

The writer is a Rawalakot, AJ&K-based freelance contributor. She can be reached at   hunainmehmud101@gmail.com