Leader Syed Ali Geelani made news as he appealed for peace after attacks targeting voters on Wednesday in Kashmir's 2014 Elections. In a debatable statement he was quoted as having said that both those who voted and didn't vote are brothers. He did however say that "This is unfortunate. Youth should not have behaved the way I am hearing they had in Baramulla and Sopore yesterday (Thursday). Fighting among ourselves on issues of who voted or who did not would only help the designs of those who oppose our struggle for freedom."
This was in response to youths thrashing those who with ink marks and tearing off their clothes.
These are very noble sentiments in retrospect. Yet in an election where voters are being urged constantly to cast their votes why is the government essentially ineffective in protecting voters form their own constituencies? After an election season that was plagued with personal attacks and a constant barrage of a leader's 'relatability' on social media is there truly no time for even the most basic protection of voters in a region known for its militants and separatists that tend to disrupt the lives of the locals.
On Friday, April 25, Jammu and Kashmr, a state rife with militants and separatists saw another disruption to local life. Three men were killed in a shootout with Indian security forces. This followed the death of a local election official in Kashmir. There was no confirmation as to whether the men were those who had carried out attacks on a poll party the evening of April 24. The dead men were however confirmed as being part of a Kashmiri separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen. These events even led to people refraining from voting in the Anantnag constituency in South Kashmir. Initially it seemed that the efforts of the militants to derail the polls were successful.
Further attacks were witnessed on May 28 where journalists sent to cover the polls in the constituencies in Kashmir were attacked. Sheikh Inyet, a reporter from Times Now as well as Zahoor Bhat, a reporter for the Sharherbeen Times were attacked allegedly by members of the Sprecial Operations Group.
May 7 saw an even further escalation of the violence in a grenade attack that was observed in the North Kashmir constituency of Baramulla-Kupwara. This attack also entailed stone-pelting at over twelve voting booths. The initial grenade attack took place near Palhalan and another in Tapar. the latter however exploded far from a polling station.
Anti-election demonstrators however were more widespread as they attacked voters and clashed with police officials in the regions of Pattan, Sopore, Baramulla and Sumbal Sonawari.
The final leg of the election however saw a triumph of voter enthusiasm over intimidation as the polls saw a better turnout as compared to earlier legs of the election. This enthusiasm was especially prevalent among the youth you were enthusiastic to get themselves 'inked'. However in Langate, bastion of MLA member Sheikh Abdul Rashid most of the younger voters claimed to be in support of him or 'engineer' as he is popularly known.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has frankly blamed Narendra Modi for inciting the violence in Assam because of the speech Modi gave calling the Muslims living in the area as 'Bangladeshis.' Abdullah also retaliated to the comments made by Modi regarding Farooq Abdullah claiming that the BJP should infact learn secularism from Kashmir. He also tweeted his intense disapproval of the acts.
This game pof back and forth however pales in comparision to te suffering undergone by voters who are essentially trying to exercise their most basic political right. Time should eventually tell however which party will be the first to grab a photo-op and brand temselves protectors of the clearly abused in Kashmir.
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