A government school housing a polling booth at Yarigund village in Budgam district was set ablaze on Friday night, causing damage to the building
Stone-pelting mobs, pro-azadi protesters and terrorists are weighing on the mind of security forces as first phase of the parliamentary by-elections takes place on Sunday.
Massive security blanket has been thrown across central Kashmir to prevent any law and order issue in Srinagar parliamentary constituency. Tension has gripped central Kashmir as stone pelting and arson has been reported from different areas in the last 18 hours.
A government school housing a polling booth at Yarigund village in Budgam district was set ablaze on Friday night, causing damage to the building. On Saturday, stone-pelters attacked an officials' team deployed on poll duty in Beerwa. Security forces guarding the polling party had to fire in air to disperse the mob.
More than 150 companies (each has strength up to 100 men) of security forces have been deployed in Srinagar parliamentary constituency. "All arrangements are in place. Polling parties are on way to respective places. We have deployed adequate security forces at each and every polling station. Over and above, we have large number of security forces for the area domination," Shantmanu, chief electoral officer of Jammu and Kashmir told DNA.
Srinagar parliamentary seat, which fell vacant after former PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra quit in protest against the civilian killings of summer unrest of 2016, comprises of 15 assembly constituencies spanning over three districts of the central Kashmir.
Three-time chief minister and National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance candidate Farooq Abdullah is pitted against the former Congress leader Nazir Ahmad Khan who is contesting on the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) ticket.
All the 1,559 polling booths have declared sensitive and hypersensitive given the threat from miscreants, terrorists and the separatists. Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an amalgam of Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, who spearheaded last year's unrest, has urged people to stay away from the elections.
"Any participation in elections tantamount to treason with martyr's blood and even an act of disgrace for sacrifices presented by our sisters. Any deception or participation in elections tantamount to adding salt to the wounds and dishonour for those who were blinded and maimed during last year's people's uprising", said Ayaz Akbar, spokesman of the hard-line Hurriyat Conference.
Past records, however, have shown that the election boycott calls have fallen on deaf ears with people coming out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
Last year, around 34 per cent people cast their vote in the by-elections for Anantnag assembly constituency despite the boycott calls. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti won the seat convincingly. Despite boycott calls and militant threats, the turnout in the five-phase assembly polls in November-December 2014 broke the 27-year-old record with 65.9 per cent people exercising their franchise.
This time too the authorities are hoping that people will defy separatists and vote in large numbers in both phase of by-polls on Sunday and Wednesday. "We are trying to create conducive atmosphere so that the person who wants to vote is able to exercise his or her franchise," said Shantmanu.
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