M A I N   N E W S

2 blasts hit Kupwara polling
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Handwara (Kupwara), September 16
For the electorate of Kupwara and Baramula districts that went to polls during the first phase of elections today, it was more a question of life than anything else. As the wave of militancy threatening to throttle democracy ran through 10 segments of Baramula and five of Kupwara, fear stalked the people. Kupwara woke up to two mine blasts engineered by militants in a polling station of the super sensitive Handwara Assembly segment. The blasts left three villagers injured, one of them gravely.

The first mine blast occurred inside the polling booth set up by the Army at Boys High School, Chehlal, at about 7.45 a.m. That was when people had just begun to pour in, braving the fear of attacks. With this blast, the voter turnout declined, only to become negligible at 11.30 a.m. when another blast occurred in the same booth. This blast caused severe injuries to 30-year-old Sonalullah Bhat, who was casting his vote. The two others seriously injured were Mohd Ashraf Bhat and Ashiq Hussain. All three were rushed to Handwara District Hospital.

The outraged villagers, were gunning for the Army which, they said, was forcing them to vote. Said Mohd Bhat, a Chehlal resident, “We don’t believe in elections. We just want to live.” Sonaullah’s wailing mother Jaana, was in no position to talk, nor was his wife, who was worried about her four daughters. When The Tribune contacted officers to find out how the blasts had occurred despite tight security, they said yet another militant threat was looming large.

The polling booth was shifted to Waripora. By then, only 40 votes out of 1000 had been polled in Chehlal.

Particularly infested with militancy on account of being the traditional bastion of slain Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone, Handwara remained vulnerable throughout the day, with firing occurring often.

Witnessing a close contest between National Conference’s sitting MLA Choudhary Mohd Ramzan and Independent candidate Mohi-ud-din Sofi, Handwara was under the grip of fear even on September 15 night.

Voters of Handwara town, however, surprised the observers in the morning by turning up in large numbers to vote from four booths in the town. Women also waited in line to vote. All 71 polling booths here had been declared super sensitive. There were 68 booths in Langate, which witnessed a varied poll pattern. Although people from rural areas remained absent, polling took place in the town.

While similar voting patterns were reported from Kupwara, Karnah and Langate, Handwara, with its dark history, remained the centre of activity today. Not only was it being keenly observed because Abdul Rehman Sheikh, the first candidate killed by militants hailed from Handwara, but also because the largest number of militant attacks on NC workers have been launched from here. NC’s Jaffar Khan was shot dead by militants at Chogal on August 27; Ghulam Mohiuddin was killed on September 7; Ghulam Mohd Dar was killed on September 9.

Mr Javed Matoo, nodal officer, elections, J&K police, informed that 19 BSF companies, 16 CRPF companies, eight additional coys of the CRPF, five coys of Indian Reserve Police and 400 J&K Police personnel had been deployed at Handwara. Walls all along the 25-km- long Rajwar, Kandi and Ramhal belt in Handwara, until yesterday, were sporting posters issuing boycott calls by militant outfits, including the JeM, LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).

At Chogal, poll officer Mohd Kamal informed that only 9 (out of total 874) votes had been polled between 7 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. At Nathusana booth, 46 votes (out of total 925) had been polled between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. At Wadhipora, 243 votes (out of 900) had been polled by 11 a.m.

In fact, at Chogal and Wadhipora, the villagers charged the security personnel with pressurising them to vote. About 40 voters returned without voting from a Chogal polling booth in the presence of NC candidate Ramzan and INC candidate Ali Mohd Dar. At Wadhipora also, the villagers stood outside the booth, exhibiting their disinterest in voting.