Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 13: After two successive militant strikes in restive Sopore area of North Kashmir against Panchayat members, over two dozen Panchs and Sarpanchs of the area today resigned here in panic.
Thirty three Panchs and Sarpanchs from the Sopore area where a Sarpanch and a woman Panch were fired at and killed and critically injured respectively, resigned in panic.
These Panchs and Sarpanchs from Hardshiva and Yemberzalwari villages of Sopore area announced their resignations in the presence of the media in Srinagar.
The terrified Panchs and Sarpanchs said that they are in hiding since the killing of Sarpanch Habibullah Mir of Gooripora Bomai in Sopore area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Friday.
Mir was killed on Friday in broad day light when he was inspecting the works under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in his Gooripora village in Sopore.
Mir’s killing was followed by attack on a woman Panch, Zooni Begam, of village Hardshiva in Sopore. She, however, survived the attack and is battling for her life in SKIMS hospital Soura in Srinagar.
The two attacks on Panchayat members in two days led to panic among the Panchayat members of the village and adjacent villages.
Sarpanch of Hardshiva Sopore, Manzoor Ahmad Rather, while announcing his resignation in front of media said: “Since we fear for our lives, we are resigning as Panchs and Sarpanchs.” He said that they met the concerned officials and the Deputy Commissioner Baramulla to tender their resignations but they refused to accept them.
Panch of village Hardshiva in Sopore, Bilal Ahmad Dar said that they don’t need any security from the Government. While appealing the militant organizations to spare them, he said that they had fought elections for the welfare of the people but the Government politicised the issue leading to the killings of the Panchayat members.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah last week said militants were not responsible for the attack on Panchayat members and instead said surrendered and released militants killed and attacked them. He said that Panchayat members were targeted on personal issues in which either surrender or released militants were used.
This is for the first time since the Panchayat members voted for Legislative Council elections in large numbers that they were targeted. Over 16000 Panchs and Sarpanchs voted in the last month’s Legislative council elections in Kashmir valley in which Ali Mohammad Dar of National Conference and Ghulam Nabi Monga of the Congress were voted to LC from Kashmir valley’s two constituencies.
Last year after 3 Panchs and Sarpanchs were killed and over two dozen were attacked in South Kashmir and North Kashmir, around 800 Panchayat members resigned by issuing paid advertisements in newspapers and through posters that were distributed locally.
The Chief Minister while playing down the resignations at that time said the Government had received only 50 resignations of the Panchayat members and all of them were rejected.
Over 35,000 Panchs and Sarpanchs were elected in 2011 in the State to the Panchayats in elections held after a gap of over 34 years. The peaceful Panchayat elections were considered as a mile stone by the State Government.
But the Panchayat members became soft target of militants and Government refused to provide individual security to such a large number of Panchayat members and instead assured them that the security forces will patrol the sensitive areas for the safety of the Panchayat members.
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