Sonawari, November 17
The first polling booth you encounter on your way from Srinagar is in Dangerpora, a part of the Sonawari constituency. Adjacent to the separatist bastion of Srinagar, it seemed to be another world today as serpentine lines of men and women made their way through the mud-filled ‘kachcha’ floor of the building, serving as a booth.
Political divide among the Muslims on sectarian lines, a kind of secret everybody knows, but nobody likes to discuss in Kashmir, was evident as Shias, who form a majority in these areas of Sonawari, came out in a large number to vote for Abid Ansari, an independent candidate, who is brother of Shia leader of the PDP Iftikhar Hussain Ansari.
While many Sunni youths were less enthusiastic and some even openly spoke of boycott, they did not appear to stop people who wanted to vote for the candidates of their choice.
The Sonawari constituency had recorded an impressive 57 per cent polling in the 2002 elections. It is clear that the area will again toll up good percentage of polling despite tangible boycott sentiments, especially in urban areas.
Even those with separatist leanings like Ghulam Rasool, 26, in Safapora said it was “fifty-fifty” between those who were willing to vote and those who did not. And that was a good figure by any yardstick.
The government’s success in stopping separatist leaders and their sympathisers from carrying out any effective pro-boycott campaign meant that those willing to vote came out without any apprehension. Nazia, a middle-aged woman, who was standing in a queue of voters said there were too many candidates this time, and it was imperative that somebody who could solve their problems should be elected. “We need power and jobs and only the government can give it to us. Why should I not vote when the polls are going to happen anyway,” she added.
