Kashmir polls

[daredevil]

Calling for a boycott and forcing somebody not to vote are seperate issues.

The methods might be different, but the end result is same, which is against the law.

 

[dabong1]

Now that the polls are underway, people need a safe and peaceful environment to caste their votes. We cannot have stone-throwing mobs blocking the streets and disrupting those who choose to vote.

And the people of kashmir dont feel under pressure to vote with a soldier on every doorstep.

 

[dabong1]

The methods might be different, but the end result is same, which is against the law.

Once you hold a UN referendum in kashmir and if the people of kashmir join india then your laws apply,up until then the only way the indians will hold kashmir is through the barrel of a gun.

The only election that will count will the the one under the UN.

 

[daredevil]

Once you hold a UN referendum in kashmir and if the people of kashmir join india then your laws apply,up until then the only way the indians will hold kashmir is through the barrel of a gun.

The only election that will count will the the one under the UN.

No body is pointing a gun at the voters to vote. It is out of their own free will coming out and voting. They want to choose leaders whom they want to be ruled/administered by.

 

[Flintlock]

And the people of kashmir dont feel under pressure to vote with a soldier on every doorstep.

It wouldn't be right for soldiers to force anybody to vote.

The media is out to document everything, so if anything of the sort happens, we'll know.

 

[DarkStar]

50+ percent is pretty damned good, considering the scale of the protests preceding the polls.

You are assuming that everybody who votes, votes for the status quo. That is not necessarily the truth. Some people may harbour seperatist feelings, yet still think it is alright for them to try to influence some sort of change.


Now let Kashmiris vote in a plebiscite, then we'll know the truth.

 

[Neo]

Finally, people of kashmir decided to use ballots instead of bullets.

Hope IA will learn from this.

 

[Flintlock]

You are assuming that everybody who votes, votes for the status quo. That is not necessarily the truth. Some people may harbour seperatist feelings, yet still think it is alright for them to try to influence some sort of change.


Now let Kashmiris vote in a plebiscite, then we'll know the truth.

Well, unfortunately, Indian constitution does not give any of its provinces the option of separation. So I guess you'll have to do without that particular "truth".

 

[Neo]

Kashmiris vote amid boycott, detention​

​

BANDIPORA, Nov 17: With troops patrolling shuttered streets and their leaders locked up, people in occupied Kashmir voted in a state election on Monday.

At least six people, two women among them, were injured when police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the election in Bandipora town, police said. Two people were detained.

The turnout in three Kashmir constituencies was about 52 per cent, slightly less than that of the 2002 polls.

“We are voting for a better candidate who can take care of the roads and amenities, but don’t confuse this with the question of azadi,” said 45-year-old carpet weaver Ghulam Ahmad. “Everyone here wants azadi and we hope that the candidates we are voting for will take up the issue with the Indian government.”

Tariq Ahmed, a young man, said he would not vote. “We don’t want election, we want freedom.”

“They are traitors. Their participation is tantamount to selling out the blood of martyrs,” said protester Javed Ahmed. “My conscience doesn’t allow me to be part of any Indian-held elections. I will vote when we will be free.”

“We want freedom but we want development and progress too,” said first-time voter Arshad Dar in Sumbhal.

In Baharpora, more than two dozen men who refused to vote gathered outside the polling booths. “We will not barter the martyrs’ blood for the vote,” said Bashir Ahmed, 22, a taxi driver. “Those who vote are traitors.”

Leaders who either want Kashmir to become independent or part of Pakistan had appealed for an election boycott.

The response seemed to be mixed on a chilly morning.

Political parties brought in voters in jeeps to one polling station in Ajas village, while another group of men watched warily from a distance. Some of them chanted “Azadi, Azadi”.

Election was also held in seven constituencies in Jammu and Ladakh. The average turnout in those constituencies was about 55 per cent, the election commission said.

All the parties that competed broadly support Indian rule. “This reaffirms the Kashmiri people’s faith in the Indian democracy,” said Kulbushan Jandial, the state’s chief spokesman.

Sham elections

“These are sham elections. You can’t hold free and fair polls in presence of thousands of occupying troops,” said All Parties Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was under house arrest.

“If the voting percentage is about 25-30, it is a boycott,” said Sajjad Lone, head of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference, at his home, where his movement was restricted by armed soldiers. He said certain poor wards could register some polling. At other places, the army might force people to vote, he said.

More than 30 leaders who had called for an election boycott had been detained under a law that allows police to hold people for up to two years without trial.

They were held for advocating “secession, breach of peace and intimidating people not to vote,” said a police officer. “We’ll not allow anybody to campaign against the elections,” he said.

500,000 Indian troops

An estimated 500,000 Indian troops are stationed in the region to defend the frontier, fight militants and now provide security for the election.

In Shadipura, dozens of villagers wrapped in woollen robes tramped in to vote at a fortress-like polling station. Others peered from windows to watch security forces combing deserted streets. Police outnumbered voters in many areas. Monday was the first day of a seven-stage election across the state.

“The polling has been by and large peaceful,” chief electoral officer B.R. Sharma told reporters.

Srinagar and other towns were almost totally locked down and thousands of troops were out in force to prevent anti-election rallies, witnesses said.

Police said they feared more unrest, particularly from militant groups, although they had vowed not to use violence to enforce the boycott. Meanwhile, an Indian soldier was killed in a gunbattle with militants in Poonch district along the Line of Control.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Kashmir votes for democracy, development, not India

bdnews24.com/Reuters, Srinagar

A good turnout at the start of Jammu and Kashmir elections may mean separatists misread a desire for development and democracy, analysts and voters said on Tuesday, but is not necessarily a vote for Indian rule.
While it is too early to draw firm conclusions from Monday's first stage in a seven-part election across a very diverse state, the turnout in parts of the mainly Muslim Kashmir Valley was a surprise for separatists who had heatedly called for a boycott.

This year has seen some of the biggest anti-India protests in the Kashmir Valley since an insurgency began in 1989, but voters like 70-year-old Abdul Ahad Bhat said they wanted to cast their ballots even though they had taken part in protest marches.

"Independence is a separate issue from the need for a better life, which a good administration can provide," he said. "So there is no contradiction if a Kashmiri votes today and goes out and raises Azadi (freedom) slogans on the streets tomorrow."

Turnout in the 10 seats contested on Monday across Jammu and Kashmir was 64 percent. More surprising perhaps was a turnout of 59 percent in three seats contested in the Kashmir Valley, up from around 55 percent in the same seats in 2002.

Previous elections have seen militants threatening violence to enforce their call for a boycott, and Indian soldiers trying to coerce people to vote. This time the militants said they would not interfere and the soldiers kept a lower profile.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference which had called for a boycott, questioned the official figures and said free and fair voting was impossible in the presence of hundreds of thousands of troops.

But more mainstream political parties appeared to have won some listeners by arguing that the need to choose good government that can build roads and improve civic amenities would not necessarily undermine the independence movement.

"This appealed to the people-for them development still is the immediate need, said Noor Ahmad Baba, dean of social sciences faculty in Kashmir University. "They know independence is a higher, time-consuming goal."
"It means ... the Hurriyat leadership does not have a finger on the pulse of the people. Yet this will not undermine the separatist movement because the political parties clearly delineated the freedom struggle from these elections." The biggest surprise came in the separatist stronghold of Bandipora, with turnout reaching 57 percent on Monday, up from 31 percent in 2002, when militant threats almost certainly kept many people away. The mountains around the town had been a hideout for militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group.

Many voters said they still wanted independence as firmly as ever, but experts said a successful election across Kashmir would give the state and central government the chance to offer better governance and defuse the independence movement to some extent.

At least 42 people were shot dead by police when hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Muslims took to the streets this year shouting "Azadi" (freedom).

leading news

 

[Nihat]

I'm glad that people of Kashmir have the sane mindedness to separate Azaadi from Development because if they would have mixed them , they would have got neither.

The valley and Jammu are in desperate need of development , on a Recent visit I saw how Isolated Kashmir is from Urban India. Roads are in a pathatic shape , power cuts are rampant and health care is not very bright either.

The train service is an instant hit though and very popular with the Locals (surely the timing of opening had something to do with elections) , the airport work for which I had gone is on track and a spanking new Terminal in Srinagar will be commissioned by late 09.

Electricity I hope will be helped by the Dams but a more hands on approach is needed in Kashmir to give it the infrastructure it deserves.

 

[daredevil]

Hope IA will learn from this.

I hope, not only IA but everyone should learn. Peace is the way to go to solve the kashmir issue.

 

[third eye]

Once you hold a UN referendum in kashmir and if the people of kashmir join india then your laws apply,up until then the only way the indians will hold kashmir is through the barrel of a gun.

The only election that will count will the the one under the UN.

J&K is not governed by the Indian Penal Code. The Ranvir Penal Code also does not condone rioters & stone throwers.

 

[third eye]

You are assuming that everybody who votes, votes for the status quo. That is not necessarily the truth. Some people may harbour seperatist feelings, yet still think it is alright for them to try to influence some sort of change.


Now let Kashmiris vote in a plebiscite, then we'll know the truth.

Now you are behaving like a sore loser.

If the voter %age was low, it would have been touted as a vindication of all what you'd like to believe..

Now that it isn't..you say things highlighted above. Even if it not necessarily the truth is only partially so, thats what democracy is all about.

 

[Zaheerkhan]

Once you hold a UN referendum in kashmir and if the people of kashmir join india then your laws apply,up until then the only way the indians will hold kashmir is through the barrel of a gun.

The only election that will count will the the one under the UN.

The same can be well said about Pakistan administered Kashmir and Chinese administrated Kashmir as well..i.e..if ever voting takes place there!!