Kashmir polls

[johnee]

Aha...thank you Agno. Yes, Indeed they were held in 2006.

Now let me remind you that in those elections, the "separatist" political parties who actually WANTED to contest, like JKLF, APNA, were barred from doing so.

Also, there were a lot of allegations that the polls were rigged by Musharraf.

wat a strange paradox........while one side doesnt let parties to contest.....and the other side wants all parties to contest........

 

[Flintlock]

Turnout high in Kashmir polls despite protests

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN – 2 hours ago

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Turnout was high for a second round of voting in Indian Kashmir on Sunday despite boycott calls by Muslim separatists and clashes in some towns between angry protesters and security forces, officials said.

As in the first round, enthusiastic voters waited in long lines to cast their ballots in many areas.

"I'm exercising my right and we need to have our own government that will address our issues," said first-time voter Owais Ahmed Mir, 20.

Turnout was about 65 percent of eligible voters in the six districts where balloting took place, government official Masood Samoon said.

 

[Captain03]

strangely........pakistan could not even achieve this much in kashmir that it holds.......!

actully the pakistani kashmiris have their own government in which their vote ACTUALLY COUNTS and people are quite happy with their government unlike the ihk's election

 

[Captain03]

wat a strange paradox........while one side doesnt let parties to contest.....and the other side wants all parties to contest........

r u serious? the indian army house arrested all the separatist leaders! plz dont talk if you dont know what ur talking about

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Aha...thank you Agno. Yes, Indeed they were held in 2006.

Now let me remind you that in those elections, the "separatist" political parties who actually WANTED to contest, like JKLF, APNA, were barred from doing so.

Also, there were a lot of allegations that the polls were rigged by Musharraf.

Many people would argue that elections in all of Pakistan under Musharraf, save for the ones in 2008, were 'rigged' to maintain him in power.

So then it isn't an issue of specifically Kashmiri elections being 'rigged', but a flaw in the entire system under a particular ruler/s.

Any validation that the parties that participated did not want to contest the election, as you seem to imply?

Not that it matters, AK isn't officially a part of Pakistan until we implement UNSC resolutions and the Kashmiris decide to become a part of Pakistan.

Nonetheless, my point remains, astounding that Johnee could spew garbage such as 'no elections' when the reality is otherwise.

But then he hasn't had anything worthwhile to say in a long time, and I'm getting tired of editing and deleting his posts, so bye bye Johnee sahib.

 

[Halaku Khan]

r u serious? the indian army house arrested all the separatist leaders! plz dont talk if you dont know what ur talking about

The Hurriyat leaders were welcome to participate. They are under house arrest to prevent them from disrupting the polls.

Whereas on the Pakistani side, parties who wanted to participate were banned. So there is a clear difference

Despite best efforts, separatist elements have been successful in stoning candidates, beating up voters with the indelible ink marks on their fingers, and so on. It is easy to imagine the atmosphere of intimidation that would have been created had the Hurriyat guys been allowed a free hand.

 

[Vinod2070]

In fact the very fact that Hurriyat leaders are tolerated and allowed to engage in their activities give a lie to their own claims and the claims of many others.

Try that in China or Pakistan and they will know what I mean.

 

[Halaku Khan]

MILITANT'S WIFE CANNOT HELP DEEPLY LOVING INDIA

Militant’s wife fights her temptation to vote

November 23rd, 2008 - 9:07 pm ICT by IANS -

Jammu, Nov 23 (IANS) Parveen Akhtar, 22, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri has gone to live with her uncle in an adjoining district to escape persuasion by her relatives and temptation to come out to vote Sunday.Howsoever she wished, Parveen could not venture out to vote and almost “relinquished this right” after she married a top militant of her area, Abdullah Inqalabi.

“I was very excited at the thought of voting when I was in my teens and was waiting for my time, but now after marrying Abdullah I cannot go against his wishes,” she told IANS by phone in a soft Gojri accent.

“Though I have not told this to my husband, somehow I cannot help deeply loving India,” she said.

Parveen has temporarily left her home in Dhakri area in Rajouri district to go and live in Mahore in the adjoining Reasi district.

Parveen’s relatives (from Gujjar community) were all eagerly waiting to cast their votes as “it is going to be a keen contest and every vote is going to count.”

She said: “My relatives were telling me to come and vote as Abdullah would not come to know. But I do not want to lie to him, else Allah will punish me.”

Her husband, Abdullah Inqalabi is a Pakistani national from Gujranwala and had come to Rajouri over five years ago. He was operating in the upper reaches of Rajouri area and was then the divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Pir Panjal regiment, a militant outfit active in this area.

Abdullah now is the top man of the United Jehad Council (UJC) in the area and is coordinating activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Al-Badr and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Pir Panjal regiment.

Parveen Akhtar belongs to a Muslim Gujjar (nomad) family which has not been swayed by separatist movement and has remained by and large pro-India.

“I knew the danger of marrying a militant but it was Allah’s will that I gave my consent,” she said. She added she married Abdullah of her own accord when he approached her father Mohammad Bashir.

Since their marriage over three years ago, both lived together for not more than three months in a staggered way. “He comes to meet for a few hours or at times I go at an arranged point to meet him,” Parveen said.

She does not want to go to Pakistan or get citizenship there as she says she is “fondly attached to this place.”

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

In fact the very fact that Hurriyat leaders are tolerated and allowed to engage in their activities give a lie to their own claims and the claims of many others.

Try that in China or Pakistan and they will know what I mean.

Actually it has been tried, in Pakistan at least.

What do you think the Baluch nationalist parties and leaders do?

 

[Vinod2070]

Actually it has been tried, in Pakistan at least.

What do you think the Baluch nationalist parties and leaders do?

If even the separatist ones are allowed to propagate their views peacefully then I stand corrected.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

No election, no selection — we want freedom, say Kashmiris
​

GANDERBAL (Occupied Kashmir), Nov 23: Riot police beat back hundreds of anti-poll protesters in occupied Kashmir on Sunday as the region voted in the second stage of elections with thousands of troops surrounding the polling stations.

Srinagar and other major towns were meanwhile put under a curfew, police and witnesses said.

The latest stage of the vote comes amid heightened tensions, with two anti-election protesters shot dead by police on Saturday in the town of Baramulla.

Muslim politicians have called for a boycott of the seven-stage polls, arguing elections strengthen India’s occupation on the region.

Sunday’s turnout was however less than what was in the first round of voting last week in which, according to Indian officials’ claim, more than 60 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot.

Occupied Kashmir was put under federal rule in July following the collapse of the so-called state government over a land row that triggered a revival of anti-India demonstrations that left 50 Muslims dead in the ensuing Indian forces’ action.

Anti-India sentiment is running deep in the valley, where most people favour independence from India or a merger with Pakistan.

Voters at a polling booth in Ganderbal town, 25km northeast of Srinagar, said they wanted an end to the violence.

“Since July scores of Muslims have been mercilessly killed in firing incidents during peaceful demonstrations,” said Ghulam Qadir, 54.

“We will elect people who will not be cruel,” he said, as scores of young Kashmiris outside chanted slogans such as “no election, no selection; we want freedom.”

In the Kurhama village, police used batons to disperse hundreds of protesters who were chanting pro-freedom slogans.

The protesters tried to stop people from entering a voting station, prompting police action.

Anti-poll protests were also reported from other parts of Ganderbal, one of the two segments in the valley where voting was held on Sunday.

Despite the protests, many voters lined up to cast their ballot, an election department statement claimed.

In nearby Kangan township, more than 100 people could be seen queuing to cast their ballots under the guard of Indian troops with machine-guns.

Militants have for the first time in 20 years pledged non-violent elections, unlike the previous polls in 2002 when 850 people were killed in riots. Most of the victims were pro-India politicians and their supporters.

“I voted for peace and prosperity,” said housewife Saleema Begum, whose brother-in-law is one of the candidates.

SHAM POLL: “These are sham elections. How can you hold free and fair polls amid a curfew,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

He had called for pro-freedom protests on Sunday.

“India is holding these elections under occupation, detentions and crackdowns,” said the Mirwaiz, who has been under house arrest for 10 days.

“Whatever the turnout, no election under these conditions can be a legitimate exercise.”

Overnight, protesters threw rocks at a motorcade carrying a prominent pro-Indian politician, wounding three of her guards, police said.

Meanwhile, Indian police raided the offices of an English daily ‘Kashmir Newsline’.

The police launched a swift search operation taking away all the copies of the paper and CDs.

“It is shocking how the administration is discouraging fair journalism in Kashmir by suppressive tactics,” said the paper’s editor.

—Agencies
No election, no selection — we want freedom, say Kashmiris -DAWN - Top Stories; November 24, 2008
------------

Is the part in bold an example of 'toleration'?

When it comes to that, everyone has their warts, so lets not get self righteous here.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

If even the separatist ones are allowed to propagate their views peacefully then I stand corrected.

Again, comments such as 'Eat with a pig but not a Punjabi' (paraphrasing from one leader) were published from an interview with him in several papers.

 

[Vinod2070]

Is the part in bold an example of 'toleration'?

I think a majority of the countries don't allow separatist and anarchist views to be promoted freely. The freedom is there, it has to be used responsibly.

For every right, there is a corresponding duty.

When it comes to that, everyone has their warts, so lets not get self righteous here.

The warts may be there, there is a difference in degree and that counts.

Just because no one is perfect doesn't mean that one should not even try to be good.

 

[Vinod2070]

Again, comments such as 'Eat with a pig but not a Punjabi' (paraphrasing from one leader) were published from an interview with him in several papers.

That sounds like an ethnic division issue. There are deep ethnic fault lines in Pakistan and everyone is aware of that.

I am talking of political parties espousing separatism being allowed to function the way they are in Kashmir and their leaders actually being protected by the Indian government.

 

[Nihat]

65% voter turnout is something we hardly ever manage in Delhi - I wonder how it happened in Kashmir. Although I'm sure many would call them falsified .

TV and newspaper showed a long que of voters who were more concerned about their drab lifestyle than azaadi .