Jammu & Kashmir - Articles

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an organization claiming to be the real representatives of people of Jammu and Kashmir and the state government are bent upon upstaging each other vis-à-vis the forthcoming elections. The Hurriyat is campaigning rather vigorously for the poll boycott throughout the Valley while the state government is doing everything to prevent the organization from doing so to ensure the success of the polls in the valley and demonstrate to the world that people were part of it (elections), However, the people at large do not seem to be interested in exercising their right to franchise for many reasons and not necessarily because of the Hurriyat’s boycott campaign. At the same time, there are quite a few who see the forthcoming elections as an avenue to bring about a change. In an informal conversation with a cross section of people in the Valley, few comments which reflect the mood are as under:

"Whom to vote for and what for? We don’t want to vote for any party. Politicians do nothing for the ordinary people. We had to migrate from Baburnagh to Hatmulla due to intense security aggression. Troops used to drag us almost every evening from our houses on the pretext that militants were hiding in our village. We pleaded before Gh Moh-u-din Sofi, Minister for Forests but to no avail. We were left to the mercy of Allah. And finally we had to leave our homes, which were later set afire probably by security forces. We are living a miserable life and politicians are living in palatial houses." This is what an apparently disgruntled Hilal Ahmed had to say about the forthcoming elections. Hilal runs a stationery shop in Kupwara town.

Many feel betrayed by the politicians and expressed dissatisfaction with the current regime and little hope in the coming elections. "Come what may, I will not cast my vote. The current government, which was voted to power to see a change, has failed on almost all fronts. Be it unemployment or human rights violations, there seems to be no change," claims a senior citizen in Srinager.

"I am not able to conclude which party should govern beleaguered Kashmiris? The much-vocal Mufti government did nothing to put a check on gross human rights violations that continue to haunt ordinary people. The demolition drive was a good step but people close to the ministers were not taken to task. Better not to cast your vote to show to the world that we are against this "autocratic rule," believes Rafiq Poswal, a mass communication graduate of Kashmir University. "Whenever elections come, they come for votes enticing people with tall claims. They are meant for a particular section of the society and do nothing for the welfare of ordinary masses" said a farmer in Kalaroose, Kupwara. Here Mehbboba Mufti and Muzzaffar Beig addressed a crowd as part of their election campaign. He claims to have attended the meeting only to fight boredom.

Though people at large do not want to participate in the elections for one reason or other, there are quite a few who believe that the participation in the elections may bring about a change in the present political set up of the state.

"I believe people should cast their vote to bring about a change in the present politics. However, to boycott elections is itself an indirect participation in the elections", said Mohd Amin Khan, a teacher at the Kupwara Higher Secondary School. A word about Mufti Govt: “The demolition drive by the Mufti-led coalition government was rather selective and influenced by many politicians. Also to some extent the unemployed youth were absorbed in various departments”, adds Khan. Nazir Ahmed, Zonal Resource Person (ZRP) at the Zonal Education Office, Kupwara, felt, "Over the years, we are voting only for the greater evils but nevertheless voting is a fundamental right.” On Mufti government he observed, “I see demolition drive by the Mufti Government as a good step. But lot needs to be done; there is a lot of government land occupied by people, which is illegal. Government should take action against such people to do justice with the people who suffered due to this drive."