India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Kashmir by-polls : Set back for PDP, victory for the people

	May 01, 2006

The elections to fill up four vacancies in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly held on Monday, April 24, set a record of sorts when 61 per cent of the voters turned out in the Kashmir valley to elect their representatives. The election results also helped the people to show that they are the masters and not the politicians whom they elect.



Expectedly Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, breaking all previous records of votes polled by any Chief Minister in the state, won the Bhadarwah assembly seat in the Jammu region with the highest margin of over 58,000 votes, defeating his BJP rival in a direct contest. The results of the three Assembly seats in the Kashmir valley were, however, a shocker for the Congress’ main alliance partner, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which could win only one seat. The opposition National Conference had reason to be cheerful as it secured two seats.



Observers say that the election results are a major setback for Mufti Mohd. Sayeed’s PDP. The Mufti, however, tried to put a brave face by accusing a section of the Congress leadership of having worked against the PDP in the by-elections. He said, “We have not lost, we have definitely improved our position though technically we lost Pattan to the National Conference.” He attributed the defeat in Pattan by a small margin to grenade attacks. The Mufti was critical of the Congress’ role especially that of Pradesh Congress vice president Abdul Gani Vakil who, he alleged, openly ran a campaign against the PDP candidates and in favour of the National Conference candidates.



Ghulam Nabi Azad’s victory margin was unprecedented. No other Chief Minister has ever secured that number of votes in the state. Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah, who contested the Assembly elections in 1997 from Ganderbal where he had a massive following. secured just a little over 26,000 votes. His son Farooq Abdullah contesting from the same constituency after becoming Chief Minister polled just over 32,000 votes in 1983,



Observers say that the by-elections have helped the National Conference to consolidate its base in the Kashmir valley. It won the Pattan seat while an Independent supported by the party was returned from Sangrama. The PDP’s defeat was especially galling in Pattan as senior Shia leader Iftikhar Hussain Ansari lost to Mustafa Kamal, Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s younger brother, contesting on the National Conference ticket.



Analysts point out that the PDP’s poor performance in the by-elections will relegate it to the backyards of coalition governance. Earlier, the PDP was calling the shots on its claim to popular support in the Kashmir valley. The by-election results have put paid to these pretensions as they show that the National Conference, despite being in the Opposition, has retained its base in the valley.



The most heartening feature of the by-elections was the turn out of more than 60 per cent voters who ignored the boycott call given by militant organizations. Barring two incidents of grenade blasts at polling stations in the Kashmir valley, the polling was peaceful by and large. The terrorists had been indulging in violence for several days prior to the polling in a bid to create panic among the people.



Chief Electoral Officer B.R. Sharma said the polling percentage in the valley was an all time high. As if making a statement against terror, voters were undaunted by the militant attempts to subvert the poll process at Pattan and Sangrama. One person was killed and 23 injured in the grenade attacks.





PM-Hurriyat talks on Wednesday



The Prime Minister will have his second round of parleys with the Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday, May 3. The Hurriyat delegation will be headed by the Chairman of the organisation, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq. The Mirwaiz cut short his foreign tour and returned to Srinagar on Tuesday, April 25, to consult his colleagues before the meeting with the Prime Minister.



Observers say that the May 3 meeting is significant as it will determine whether the Hurriyat will take part in the second round table conference on Kashmir to be held in Srinagar on May 25. The Hurriyat had earlier said that it will stay away from the Srinagar meeting as it was not happy over what it called the lack of clarity in the Centre’s dealing with the conglomerate. They wanted to meet the Prime Minister before deciding on their participation in the round table conference.



The Centre is said to be keen that the Hurriyat participate in the round table. It had boycotted the first round. A meeting without the Hurriyat will rob it of its representative character, official sources said.



Hurriyat leaders were unhappy with the “slow pace” of the dialogue and the “contradictory statements” being issued by officials dealing with Kashmir.



There are indications that the Centre will make efforts to mollify the separatist leaders by focusing on some of the key issues they raised. In fact, accepting their demand for a second round of talks with the PM ahead of the round table is an indicator to that effect.



Official sources pointed out that the Hurriyat’s key demand of making the round table conference more “meaningful” by reducing the number of participants is being actively considered. It is likely that the number of participants will be reduced from 70 to 20. At the inaugural meet, some of the participants did not get a chance to speak.



The first round table conference held on Feb. 25 was boycotted by the separatist leaders. Founder member of JKLF Hashim Qureshi was the only separatist leader present at the meeting.





CBI to book five Army officers



The CBI is to charge-sheet five Army officers including a Brigadier for the alleged kidnapping and murder of five Kashmiris in the socalled Pathribal encounter in Anantnag in March 2000.



The agency’s indictment is sweeping; from Army officers faking witness statements and “fabricating evidence” to passing off the premeditated killings as a “stage-managed encounter” from the hasty burial of the bodies to evidence that weapons the Army said it used were not used at all.



The charge-sheet, to be filed in a Jammu and Kashmir court, names Brig. Ajay Saxena, Lt. Col. Brijendra Pratap Singh, Maj. Amit Saxena and Subedar Khan.



The case hit international headlines, coming as it did four days after the Chittisinghpora massacre in which 35 villagers were lined up and killed, allegedly by militants.



The five persons killed in Pathribal on March 24, 2000, were made out to be foreign militants behind the Chittisinghpora massacre. When local residents took out a protest march complaining these were men gone missing from nearby villages and killed in cold blood, they were fired upon near Barakpora. Ten more persons were killed.



CBI’s Director Vijay Shankar said the Army has performed an exceptional role in Jammu and Kashmir. However, there are one or two encounters where their role has been severely criticised. The Anantnag encounter is one such case which can be called an aberration and it was necessary for the CBI to clear the good name of the Army and expose persons responsible for the fake encounter.



Major sex racket unearthed



The Jammu and Kashmir police has unearthed a major sex racket in Srinagar in which the names of two top politicians, 13 police and security force officers and a ring of 43 girls have surfaced. Two persons were arrested after police discovered two porn CDs in which a 15-year old girl had been forcibly filmed.



Director General of J & K Police Gopal Sharma said that the police are investigating the case. “Once the investigations are complete, we will take strict action” he said. “We will not spare anybody.”



According to a confidential report prepared by a sub-divisional police officer, the minor girl provided 48 names to the police investigators which include two former Ministers and legislators belonging to the ruling coalition, three SPs, a DIG of Border Security Force, local businessmen and several government officials.