Elections
in J&K
Sir,
The
current on going election process has
been just a mock show with no objectives
in mind and far from seeking larger
participation of masses to represent the
real perception of the common people in
the State of J&K. Government tried
very little in soliciting the wider
participation of the people.
One of the
main factors responsible for the on going
turbulence in the Valley was of course
the manipulated elections. Despite louder
publicity by the Election Commission that
it is confident enough to carry out
smooth elections process in the State,
the reality is far distant from the
claims of Election Commission.
On the 6th
of Sept. in a meeting conveyed by DC and
SP of Anantnag town very categorically
told the participating candidates that it
does not have sufficient armoury,
requisite accommodation and sufficient
security personnel available for the
prospective candidates. This is quite
contrary to the claims made by the
Election Commission that it has put all
the mechanics of carrying free and fair
elections in the State.
Another
mistake, Commission has made is to
eliminate the displaced community from
the election process. The sequence of
events which have made community alien to
the elections are as enumerated below:-
It has not
given the sufficient time to the new
eligible voters seeking the vote. In a
ridiculous advertisement on 27th of
August for enrolling new voters, the
notification States that for the first
phase no new voters can be added and for
the second phase the last date was 26th
of August.
This has
denied their legitimate right to vote and
hence a strong constitutional violation
of right to vote by Election Commission.
Rather
than trying to involve more and more
people for the participation in the
elections, the Election Commission has
put many hurdles. First a person has to
go to collect the form, then get the form
attested by the gazetted officer and then
submit it to the authorities who are no
guarantors of the vote. It could have
been easier by issuing voter identity
cards to the migrants and seeking their
consent over the place of voting through
a simple application.
Even the
voters who have gone through all above
complicated problems, no one has
guaranteed them the confirm vote. There
is no track of the applications for the
voters and no reason why the votes were
not given to the applicants in some
cases. If the conversation with some
people is to be believed then the people
who have sought the vote is around three
thousand six hundred but only twelve
hundred votes were issued is the case of
Anantnag constituency. The balance M.
form were converted into 12 C forms and
were sent to be desired addresses where
it could be manipulated. No one can be
blamed because EC has not made it
possible to issue the receipts of the
forms.
In one
instance in a family of four members only
the daughter and the son were found
eligible to vote, where their parents
have been rendered voteless. The matter
should be thoroughly investigated and
displaced community should be given fair
chance of electing the representatives.
It is the
time to act otherwise this election will
be far from addressing the turbulence is
the State and people will treat the whole
electioneering just unfair.
Yours etc...
Vikram Bhat
Anantnag Kashmir
J&K
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