GROUND REPORT: South Kashmir cold to polls, all eyes on voter turnout

Pulwama, Mar 28: The graffiti here are drawn across the brick walls in black paint allowing a peek into the lives of people living beyond them. ‘Boycott elections’. ‘Hum kya chahte…’ ‘Hizbul Mujahideen’ and many other slogans painted upfront.

A commonplace in Pulwama and other south Kashmir districts, the slogans show the chaos the place has been enduring for years now.

If one puts aside the politics of it, the conflict isn’t complex to understand: Government forces harass youth who join militant ranks, lie low in woods or people’s homes, are eventually trapped and killed in encounters, their funerals attract thousands, and more youth pick up arms. Repeat.

Resentment permeates the air here; an ambience where even the idea of elections seems a misfit. But then here we are. A few weeks away from the General Elections of the world’s second most populated country. As if conducting it wasn’t already a gigantic challenge, doing so in Kashmir offers its own set of perils.

A day’s travel through Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts is enough to gauge the mood ahead of the parliamentary polls.

Unlike the pomp and show of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, gun-wielded troops, chaotic faces and eerie silence dominate these districts now.

Every political party has announced their candidates, who have filed their nominations for the battle against their rivals. Campaigning on a shallow level for the polls has already begun elsewhere in the valley.

South Kashmir, however, is largely indifferent. The candidates or party leaders of NC, PDP or other lesser known regional parties have, out of fear, not been able to tour or hold rallies and public interactions to seek votes from people here.

Realising the resentment among them, the political parties, especially PDP, which considered south Kashmir as its stronghold, have kept away for these districts. The campaigning, for now, hasshifted to north and central Kashmir.

Recently, Mehbooba was seen campaigning from Baramulla while NC’s vice president and former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, too held rallies in Baramulla and Budgam.
Coupled with the anger, the almost non-existent political presence is likely to dampen the people’s participation in the election process in Anantnag parliamentary seat, which, in 2014, recorded 28 per cent voting in 16 segments.

Abdul Majeed (name changed), who actively took part in PDP rallies in Kulgam in 2014, spends most of his time in the orchard these days, away from all the electioneering.
Majeed says many like him would prefer to stay away from elections this time since the “situation has drastically changed in the last five years.”

“Do you really feel elections will be held here? There are no posters, rallies. Even the candidates have stopped visiting the villages,” he says.

During the 2014 elections, Kulgam recorded 36.68 per cent voter turnout, a number Majeed says would be “very very low this time”.

“Then floods had hit the valley and people expected a sort of monetary relief from the government. But now the entire area is known for encounters only,” he says.

Many residents of Kulgam claimed they were not aware who their candidates were or when was the date of polling.

“Nobody steps out on election day as the entire area remains shut. People mostly prefer to boycott as was seen in Panchayat elections,” says Muzaffar Ahmad, a resident of Yaripora Kulgam.

Barring a section of people in Damhal Hanjipora in Kulgam, people in villages like Khudwani, Behibagh, Hanjan, Chakh, Palan Daderkoot say the upcoming elections would attract single-digit turnouts.

In Pulwama’s Kakapora, Rajpora, Tral and Awantipora areas, locals say “only the families and relatives of the politicians turn to voting”.

“We have some villages like Pinglin, Koil, where none will vote probably. Many youths in the district have been blinded with pellets and forces are at every nook and corner. So in this situation, it will be hard for even the workers to cast a vote,” a group of locals in Pulwama’s Tral town told this reporter.

The voter turnout is also expected to remain confined to single-digits in twin districts of Anantnag and Shopian.

Locals of these two districts say there is no activity related to the election going on within the constituency.

Though the police have reviewed the security in both these districts, the political parties are avoiding campaigning in sensitive places.

PDP spokesperson, Rafi Ahmad Mir told The Kashmir Monitor that the party has sought adequate security from the government for its campaigning in the constituencies.

“The campaigning will soon start in Anantnag. Removal of security of politicians was not wise and we have written to the government for security concerns,” he said.

National Conference General Secretary, Ali Mohammad Sagar said the campaigning in south Kashmir will start after the filing of nomination by their candidate.
“We recently held a convention in Dooru. More programmes will follow and we will also talk to the higher officials for providing us ample security,” he said.