By Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: – Ghulam Hassan Najjar, 56, of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district had always cast his vote along with his family in every election until now. This time, the Najjar family decided to boycott the polls over New Delhi’s stand on Article-35.
“We know that after elections are over, the Central government will start tinkering with Article 35-A. It is about our identity. If it’s not there, then we have no relation with the rest of the country, so this time we decide to boycott the elections as I believe Indian government has thrust these elections forcibly on us, ” Najjar says.
In Nathpora area of the same district resides Naseer Ahmad Thoker who says that BJP’s muscular policy towards Kashmir has alienated people further in the Valley.
“I have lost faith in democracy. Ever since the BJP came into power; we have been pushed towards the wall. I was a staunch supporter of National Conference and used to vote for them in every election but this time, even without their boycott call I wouldn’t have participated in elections,” he says.
The first of the four-phase urban local body elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir after a 13-year break on Monday.
In Kashmir, the streets wore a deserted look and voting remained abysmal in Srinagar, Bandipora, Baramulla and other areas. However, in Jammu people responded much more favourably, with voters lining at the polling station in almost all the wards.
“We respected the call given by militant commander Riyaz Naikoo for boycotting the polls, they are dying for us and we have no right to sell their blood in return,” says a 45-year-old man from South Kashmir’s Anantnag district who wished to remain anonymous due to security reasons.
Another man from Srinagar City echoed the similar views saying that by participating in elections they are betraying their own people who are giving their lives for their “freedom”.
“Article 35-A was one of the reason, I didn’t cast my vote plus the present scenario in the valley where people are not able to breathe, youth are forced to pick guns, innocents are being killed, how can one turn blind eye to these incidents. So my conscious didn’t allow me to vote today,” said a young entrepreneur Yasir Iqbal from Srinagar.
Amid shutdown called by separatists in the Valley, streets were deserted and voting remained abysmal in Srinagar, Bandipora, Baramulla and other areas. Two key parties in the state — the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) — have abstained from the elections over the centre’s stand on Article 35-A, making it a contest between the BJP and the Congress. The impact was visible on the ground.
Mobile internet services were suspended in South Kashmir during the voting. In other parts of the Kashmir Valley, the internet speed has been reduced, said officials.
According to reports, 45 candidates have withdrawn their nominations amid threats from militant groups.
Frontier district Kupwara recorded the highest polling with 32%, while Bandipora remained the lowest with 3.5 % in Kashmir.
The candidates were running away from the media to ensure their names don’t appear anywhere. Voters were not willing to take the risk of being photographed.
“We were barred from entering inside the polling stations and not allowed to capture photographs,” said a photojournalist Umar Parra, who works with a local newspaper.
In several wards, especially those in south Kashmir, no candidate filed nomination papers for the polls.
The candidates were moved to safe locations and their details were not made public.
The election authorities also kept the identities of the contesting candidates from the valley secret due to security reasons, prompting the people to term these polls as “secret elections”.
About 8.3% of the electorate voted on Monday in Kashmir Valley while Kargil recorded the highest turnout of 78%, an official said.
“Only 7,057 voters of the 84,692 eligible persons turned up to vote in the wards which went to polls Monday. The polling was by and large peaceful,” the official said.
According to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) J&K Shaleen Kabra, the overall polling percentage across the State was 56.7%.
As per officials, there were 820 polling stations across the State and the polling time started from 7 am and continued till 4 pm.
While 150 polling stations were designated for voting in Kashmir Division including Kargil and Leh, 670 were set up in Jammu Division.
A total of 138 polling stations were categorized as hypersensitive In Kashmir Division while the number of such stations in Jammu was 52.
While 78 candidates were elected unopposed, 1,204 contenders were in the fray for 321 Municipal Wards in Phase-I including 83 in Kashmir division and 238 in Jammu division.
The government had also declared a holiday for polling in the municipal areas going to polls so as to enable the voters to cast their vote. As per standing guidelines, the Central Government offices shall not be closed but the employees who are electors of the poll going wards and desire to exercise their franchise shall be offered reasonable facility- by way of coming late to office, allowed to leave office early.
The Municipal Elections are being held in four phases, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh. A total of 3,372 nominations have been filed for 1,145 wards. The next phase of voting is on October 10, followed by the third phase on 13 and forth on October 16.
Separatists welcome boycott
Stating that ongoing election process has “violated the very definition of the democratic process”, Joint Resistance Leadership on Monday hailed peoples’ rejection and boycott of what it termed as ‘sham’ ULB elections, and the exemplary complete protest shutdown against it.
Shadow on roots of democracy: NC
The key regional party, National Conference said that ongoing ULB polls have turned out to be an exercise in waste as the first phase of polling has witnessed a record low poll percentage in the valley with as many as 215 candidates getting elected unopposed with 177 wards having no candidates.
In a statement, the party’s Provincial Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that the whole process has been superimposed on the state without taking into consideration the ground realities. “It is an inconsiderate exercise to hold ULB polls in the valley. The institutions of the state are being bulldozed and played with just to satiate the arrogance of those who continue to target the states special status and doesn’t want normalcy to return to the state,” he added.
10 Injured in Clashes
Meanwhile, at least ten people, including a woman were injured during protests at several places.
In Lankreshipora village of Bandipora, a woman was injured when government forces used tear gas canisters and pellets to disperse anti-election protesters, witnesses said. Shabeena, wife of Javed Ahmad received multiple pellet injuries in the action of government forces.
Adil Ahmad Buhru, a BJP candidate from Ward 15 was injured when protesters threw stones at him near Dachigam polling booth. Police, however, denied that Buhru was injured.
Clashes also erupted in Old town of the neighbouring Baramulla, where angry protesters engaged government forces in pitched battles in the Old Town, witnesses said. However, no one was injured in the clashes.
In south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, protesters fought pitched with government forces in Janglat Mandi area, witnesses said. One person was injured as the government forces and protesters exchanged brickbats in the area.
Clashes were also reported from many parts of the city outskirts, including Parimpora, Noorbagh, Bagh-e-Mehtab, Mochou and Karalpora.
At Kralpora, government forces lobbed tear smoke shells after failing to disperse anti-election protesters with baton charge. At least four youth were injured in the violent protests that continued for several hours, said witnesses.
In Parimpora and Noorbagh localities, three people were reportedly injured in stone-pelting protests. The government had placed adequate security arrangements, with 200 companies of the CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police on duty.