Anantnag/Kulgam, December 17
The pro-poll momentum carried on today as voters came out in huge numbers in the separatist strongholds of south Kashmir even as the 16 seats that went to the polls reported 64 per cent polling.

With this, 66 seats have so far gone to the polls, recording a 63 per cent turnout. The enthusiastic voters also sealed the fate of two former Chief Ministers Mufti Sayeed (Anantnag) and Ghulam Nabi Azad (Bhaderwah).

Kashmir's divisional commissioner Masood Samoon said six and four seats of Anantnag and Kulgam districts in Kashmir reported 60 and 57 per cent turnout, respectively, while two constituencies each of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts in Jammu division saw 65, 68 and 64 per cent polling, respectively.

Though there were a few incidents of scuffle between supporters of different political parties in constituencies like Devsar, the polling was largely "incident-free", he said.

All seats that went to the polls today surpassed the figures of the 2002 assembly elections by several notches, especially in Kashmir. In Anantnag district, Anantnag saw a turnout of 38 per cent against only 7 per cent in 2002, Noorabad 72 per cent against 23, Dooru 69 per cent against 40, Shangus 68 against 25, Kokernag 57 against 15, Pahalgam 56 against 33 while Bijbehara 58 against 17 per cent.

In Kulgam district, Home Shalibugh polled 49 per cent against 23 per cent in 2002, Kulgam 60 against 24, Devsar 59 against 36 and Noorbad 72 against 23.

"We want development and jobs and it is imperative to choose a good leader who can deliver " Rafiq Alam told The Tribune while waiting for his turn to vote in the Lal Chowk area of Anantnag, which had hardly seen any polling last time. Kishtwar and Inderwal in Kishtwar district saw turnouts of 75 and 72 per cent, respectively, against 55 and 57 per cent in 2002 while Doda and Bhaderwah in Doda district totalled 70 and 65.5 per cent against 55 and 54 per cent in 2002.

Ramban and Banihal seats in Ramban district had polling figures of 64 and 63 per cent against 58 and 41 per cent in 2002.

Presence of several high-profile candidates in south Kashmir, a PDP bastion, galvanised their supporters and long queues of voters could be seen even before polling had begun.

In Kulgam, private vehicles with PDP posters were seen ferrying voters where the PDP candidate was locked in a tight contest with state CPM secretary and two-time MLA Yousuf Tarigami. The PDP had won a majority of seats in these places in 2002.

Anantnag/Kulgam, December 17
Encouraged by the turnout in the previous phases, voters in the two neighbouring districts of Anantnag and Kulgam in south Kashmir thronged polling stations braving winter chill following overnight rain in the penultimate sixth phase of elections today.

There was delay in the polling at several places due to the malfunctioning of EVMs, which, however, did not dampen the spirits of voters, including fragile and old peasants.

Even as there were sporadic incidents of anti-election protests supporting the separatist boycott call, many polling stations in these areas registered the number of voters more than in the previous elections.

However, a spokesman of the separatists in Srinagar claimed that people in major towns of Anantnag, Kulgam, Homshalibugh, Devsar and Beijbehara held a series of protest demonstrations and boycotted the poll despite the heavy deployment of security forces.

There were long queues of voters outside polling stations in most of the constituencies throughout the two districts, even as the voters made a clear line between polling for governance and “azadi”.

“We are for the boycott of elections”, said a group of youths at Chawalgam, near the Kulgam district headquarters, but added that these were necessary for providing basic amenities like “pani, bijli, sadak and hospital”. That is why they could not stay away from the poll and came out early morning to cast their votes.

The Hurriyat people had given a boycott call but were seen nowhere for they were prevented by the government, say residents. At the same time they lamented that the successive governments had failed to provide basic facilities.

The police had to chase away scores of people outside a polling station in Bonigam village in the Devsar constituency of Kulgam district around noon to avoid clashes between supporters of two rival candidates.

Polling in the Sumber polling station of the Banihal assembly segment, Ramban district, could not take place due to a faulty electronic voting machine (EVM). Just as the polling started, it was stopped and could not be resumed.

Similar reports of faulty EVMs were also reported from other areas, but in these areas after initial bottlenecks, polling was restored and completed successfully.

Sources in the State Election Office said the poll process in these constituencies was peaceful, barring some delay due to a faulty EVM in places like Thakurai in the Inderwal assembly segment.

Some individual polling stations like Thanala, a model village bordering Himachal Pradesh in the Bhaderwah constituency, recorded 88 per cent.

Officials said the polling percentage was tentative as some reports from far-flung areas like Wardwan, Dechhan, Marwah and Padder would only be known after the polling parties return tomorrow.

According to DIG (Doda-Ramban range) Himmat Kumar Lohia, the poll was completed successfully in this “once most terrorist infested area” with no untoward incident or report of rigging and disruption due to law and order situation.

He said 160 companies of police and paramilitary forces were deployed across the six constituencies that gave a lot of confidence to voters resulting in a high turnout.

Apprehension of the political parties of low polling was dispelled early in the day when the clouds blew away clearing out the day.

Though, the higher reaches in these assembly segments witnessed some minor rain and cold winds from the adjoining snow mountains, sunshine during the later part of the day accelerated polling in the afternoon.

Giving details about the Sumber polling station, ARO Banihal Jatinder Misra said, “There was some fault in the EVM after the first three votes were polled. A new EVM was sent to the polling station, which reached at 1 pm, so the polling agents did not allow polling. The entire details have been sent to the Election Commission who will now decide about the new date.”

He said despite bad weather eight polling stations in the Banihal assembly segment recorded over 80 per cent polling.

Democracy in the state has come a long way. From voting to rid the state of militancy in both 1996 and 2002, people of the former militant hub of Doda today came out and voted in large numbers for “development, peace and tranquillity”, clearly indicating a vote for change in favour of young and new entrants in politics.

People open voiced their faith in democracy as compared to the “hush-hush manner” in which most people voted six years ago.

“We are voting for a change. The last two elections saw people come out and vote despite severe threats from militants to get rid of them. This time, reason for the large voter turnout is different. The people want to get rid of the politicians who did not perform during the last six years and re-elect the ones who did. We want to give a clear message to the politicians that they cannot fool us anymore. This election is clearly a vote for development,” Mohammad Shakhi, a government employee, said at Thathri in the Inderwal constituency.

Despite extreme cold, people came out to vote in the six assembly segments of Doda, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Inderwal, Ramban and Banihal in Jammu.

Militancy in the state has made people aware politically. With the era of President rule still fresh in their minds, the people do not want to waste any opportunity to participate in the governing process.

“To sum up the mood of these elections, I can say that people will do anything to ensure that dark days of militancy do not return. Each one here is focused on peace, development and tranquillity. But once this is achieved, we want our civic amenities and other local issue to be addressed,” Syed Gulam Nabi said at a Kishtwar pooling booth with many onlookers agreeing with him.

Large numbers of underage voters were detected at places like Kishtwar and Darabshala. At Government Higher Secondary School, Darabshala some tense moments were witnessed when two girls Sahira Zargar and Shagufta Banoo, both students of Class X, both claiming to be 20 years old went to poll their votes.

The returning officer did not allow them in the polling booth leading to some arguments between two opposing factions, one wanting them to be allowed to poll and the other opposing their entry.

Similarly, security agencies had to push out some mischievous elements from Government High School, Kishtwar, after they tired to disrupt the polling after names of some of the supporters of a particular candidate were found missing on the voters list.

Thathri (Doda), December 17
Notwithstanding the claims of the administration to set up polling stations at the nearest possible place in every village, in this mountainous belt of the Jammu region, large number of voters had to trudge down long distances to cast their votes.

Distance did not deter the faith in democracy for many like Rashida Begum, who travelled for 14 km on foot to cast her vote.

She was not alone. There were many others who travelled greater distances to ensure that they exercised their franchise.

This happened amidst the allegations that politicians in power in the previous government got votes distributed in such a manner that their political rivals were put on a disadvantage.

More than 500 voters of the Thathri-A and Thathri-B polling stations of the
Inderwal Assembly segment covered a distance of more than 10 km to repose
their faith in democracy.

This authenticated the allegations that the authorities were casual in setting up the polling stations possible at nearest place to the villages.

Without assessing the ground realities, officers have set up polling stations, Bashir Ahmed, a shopkeeper of Bachi, said.

He said people of Bachi village located on the bank of Chenab river, near Kundani, have to cover a distance of 15 km to reach Kuntwara to cast their votes.

Though there is a polling station near to their villages, inhabitants of Hadar, Batkut, Barshalla, Khoura, Tohal and Ghartan had to cast their vote at the Kuntwara polling station, which is far from their native places.

Voters of Purshbulla had to cover a distance of 8 km to reach polling station at Bhandara, despite being the fact that the Sagana polling station is located just 2 km away from their village.

Srinagar, December 17
Continuing with the past practice, restrictions on the movement of people to prevent separatists’ anti-poll march to south Kashmir affected normal life, leading to a curfew-like situation here today.

These restrictions, under Section 144, were imposed to prevent the separatist coordination committee march to district headquarters of Anantnag and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir, where polling in 10 constituencies was held in the sixth phase of elections today.

A curfew-like situation prevailed here, while only official and security forces vehicles plied on the main roads.

Life was also affected in Sopore and Baramulla towns of north Kashmir where restrictions under Section 144 had been imposed to avoid any protest demonstrations disturbing law and order.

Other areas were also affected, as all entry points into the capital city had been sealed, which were relaxed by the late afternoon.

The preventive measures had been taken in view of the separatist committee call for a general strike and march towards the district headquarters as part of its anti-election programme.

Senior leaders of the committee, comprising both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, other separatist, religious, social and traders organisations, continue to be under house arrest.

They include Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Geelani, while several others leaders, including APHC leader Shabir Ahmad Shah and JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, are under detention.

The preventive measures also led to the disruption of normal traffic on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only surface link to the valley.

Srinagar, December 17
The security forces achieved a big success today when they gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Rayees Kachroo, who had mysteriously escaped from police custody in a Pulwama court on November 4, and his accomplice in a Shopian village.

Official sources told The Tribune that joint security teams carried out searches at Mailura village in Shopian today after the Srinagar police got a definite lead about Kachroo's presence there.

Both times they returned emptyhanded as they could not locate the stealthily built hideout in a cowshed.

"We tried again as our source was certain and then we were tipped off about the hideout," a police official from Srinagar's special operation group said.

As a joint team of 117 and 130 battalions of the CRPF, Rashtriya Rifles and the police attempted to break in, Kachroo and his accomplice, Abdul Rashid Ganie, alias Ashfaq, launched indiscriminate firing from their automatic rifles.

"We were lucky not to suffer injuries. Both tried to flee but were gunned down by cordon forces," an official said. Ashfaq was HM's district commander for Pulwama.

Kachroo was a huge concern for the authorities in these elections due to his expertise in making improvised explosive devices (IED) and his hand in the killing of over 28 persons, mostly security personnel, over the years before his arrest in March.

What was more, he was particularly active in south Kashmir districts where elections were going on even as a joint team of the police, CRPF and Army traced him to his hideout built in the premises of Akbar Lone.

Among several blasts carried out by him were ones that targeted jawans on 143 and 130 battalions of the CRPF on January 23 and August 4 last year, killing nine in all. He was also behind the killing of several Army personnel, including Major Lalit.

Bishnah, December 17
After Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tried to reignite the fire reminding the people about the Amarnath land row here yesterday, NC president Omar Abdullah today mouthed platitudes in a bid to woo voters.

Wrapping up his speech within six minutes, Omar, however, did not utter a single word about the Amarnath land row in a constituency that remained hotbed of violent protests during the agitation and from where the BJP has given its mandate to Shilpi Verma, wife of Kuldeep Verma.

Irked over Omar’s ‘fiery’ speech on the Amarnath land row during the UPA trust vote on July 22, Kuldeep had ended his life.

Attribute it to the paucity of time or place itself, Omar hurried through his speech with the oft-repeated criticism of previous PDP-Congress combine and promises of overall development.

After the people kept waiting for nearly five hours since 11 am, the NC president eventually drove his way into the venue in a Tata Safari at 4 pm and straightway started counting failures of the erstwhile coalition government.

He said during the six-year-tenure of previous regime, common people in the state, particularly of the Bishnah constituency, had been subjected to grave injustice, but the time had come to ensure justice to all.

Calling coalition’s performance a cruel joke with the people, Omar said the previous regime had promised two jobs in every house that turned out to be a hoax.

“Even today 70,000 jobs have been lying vacant in various government departments and the NC will fill them on priority after assuming the power,” he said.

He said the NC had prepared a list of 16 household items and after coming to the power, we would go for price cut by 15 to 20 per cent in selected items.

Similarly, fast-track recruitments in the IRP and the police, too, would be made. He urged voters to exercise their franchise wisely.

Kokernag, December 17
Villagers of Hayatpora in this Assembly constituency today protested as their names did not figure in the voter list and were not allowed to vote.

The villagers told mediapersons that a polling station set up was shifted to 2 km away from the village.

They alleged, however, after covering the distance on foot they were not allowed to vote in the new polling station. “Your names did not figure in the voter lists,” they were told by officials.

Later, the villagers protested against the shifting of polling station and not allowing them to exercise their franchise.

The police at Batapora resorted to lathicharge to disperse anti-poll demonstrators. However, after about an hour, the people came out and took part in the voting, official sources said.

Polling in three polling stations in the Dooru constituency was started late after the electronic voting machines (EVM) did not function because of cold.

They said polling was suspended in a polling station at Devsar after supporters of two rival groups clashed. — UNI

Jammu, December 17
Though they play a vital role in the state economy, around 2.25 lakh nomadic tribals still remain children of the lesser God in the absence of voting right in the state.

If a major chunk of 13 lakh Gujjar and Bakerwal community (as per 2001 census) has the privilege of voting right, around 2.25 lakh nomadic tribals consisting of Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gaddis, Drads, Changpas and Sippis live an “anonymous and marginalised” life in the absence of their fundamental right.

Fazal Din, a nomadic Gujjar in Suchetgarh, said those of his community members who owned land and had permanent resident certificates issued in their names enjoyed the privilege of casting votes.

He said under Article 370, which gives special status to the state, only permanent residents could exercise their franchise, but since we did not possess land, the question of acquiring permanent resident certificates did not arise.

“Though 90 per cent of Gujjars and Bakerwals have voting rights, problem lies with nomads likes us, who till date have not been included in the electoral rolls,” said Shamas Din, another Gujjar in Deriyaan village, Suchetgarh.

He said this year at the time of revising electoral rolls, around 4 lakh nomads had moved to the upper reaches along with their cattle.

“Leave aside 2.25 lakh nomads, who have not been included in the revised electoral rolls, even those among us who were in the list faced immense hardships in exercising their franchise,” said Mohammed Din, another Gujjar.

He said we had appealed to the Election Commission to make it possible for the nomads of the state to have a “Mobile Voting System” so as to enable them to cast votes ‘anywhere’ in the ongoing Assembly elections.

A researcher on nomadic tribes in the state said twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri had 75,000 Bakerwal voters, while 1.25 lakh Gujjar voters were scattered over Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts.

He, too, divulged a memorandum had been forwarded to the Election Commission for introducing the mobile voting system for the nomadic tribes in the state.

If the government could provide postal-ballot facility to displaced Kashmiri Pandits, there was no big deal in extending the facility for marginalised nomads, he added.

Jammu, December 17
With External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee hinting at a post-poll alliance with the PDP, the political equations have gone for a toss a week ahead of the last phase of polling in state.

Though they say there are no permanent friends or foes in politics, the Congress' move comes as a surprise in view of the bitter experience it had while running the coalition regime with the PDP and the way the latter pulled the plug on the Ghulam Nabi Azad government months prior to completion of its tenure.

Also, both parties had been making vitriolic attacks on each other since the fall of the Congress-led coalition government in the aftermath of the Amarnath land row that pushed the entire state into the turmoil.

They had been nursing the grouse against each other to the extent that during the entire poll campaign each of them highlighted achievements of their respective terms and blamed the other alliance partner for all failures.

Both parties took credit for "unprecedented development", restoration of peace in the state and confidence-bulding measures like cross-LoC travel and trade with neighbouring Pakistan.

Political observers feel that the PDP may consider an alliance with the Congress as the Muftis share a good rapport with AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was the architect of this alliance in 2002.

They see another possibility of the two parties forging an alliance, which is if Azad is kept out of any dispensation.

It may be mentioned here that after withdrawing support to the Azad government, PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti was critical of Azad, stating that he had deviated from "Mufti Sahib's healing touch policy".

Later, the PDP had also supported the UPA government in the crucial trust vote after it pulled down the Azad government in the state.

Reacting to the development, senior PDP leader Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari said: "First, every party wants to form the government on its own and so do we. As far as the alliance is concerned, it all depends upon the number game - who is up and who is down. If we don't get the numbers we will try to find out good partners."

However, he said it would be too premature to comment as the matter would be finally decided by the party's political affairs committee.

Jammu, December 17
The state Information Department has been playing a “partisan” role in the ongoing Assembly elections as a “selected lot of reporters” from some of the media houses are given preferential treatment while others are being neglected.

The Information Department has been assigned the role to take journalists from Jammu on rotational basis to cover the elections.

However, ignoring all norms the department has been repeatedly taking with them only a ‘selected lot of reporters’.

“Officers of the Information Department ignoring all norms are busy developing good relations with a few selected lot of journalists who already have good relations with the top bureaucrats,” a journalist of a national news agency said.

He said: "They are using a chopper to ferry journalists from Jammu to the far-off areas where the polling takes place. Every time the department takes journalists along with them, a similar group is repeated while ignoring others who represent various international, national and regional media organisations. Preference is given to contacts rather than the media organisation that they represent.”

State information secretary K.B. Jandial said: “The list of journalists desirous of covering the elections is long and we have limited number of seats in a helicopter. We will try to takes those who were left in the coming phases of elections.”

“I was asked to contact the officer concerned on phone to include me in the list of journalists they would be taking with them on December 17 to cover the polling in Doda. However, the officer concerned has gone inaccessible and I don’t know what to do at this eleventh hour,” a senior photographer of a national daily said.

Party leader Faqir Nath accused other political parties of ignoring the interests of
the SC communities.

Jammu, December 17
Former minister and president of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party Nationalist (JKDPN) Ghulam Hassan Mir said today that economic stability and empowerment of the people was the only way to address problems confronting them in the restive state.

"Time has come when truth should prevail and those trying to woo the voters on false promises be shown the door," he said while addressing a rally in Jammu East here today.

Mir said divisive politics today had no role and those trying to divide the state on communal or regional grounds were merely doing so for their petty interests so as to stay in power.

People of the state were aware of their rights and would not tolerate any move to thrust dynastic rule on them, he added.

Seeking votes in favour of party candidate Zaffar Khan, Mir said his credibility had made him a candidate from Jammu-East.

Showering accolades on Khan, the party president said his election as an MLA would be an eye-opener for those who were trying to divide the state. He said that JKDPN stood for equitable development of all three regions of the state.

Jammu, December 17
The Army and the BSF have noticed unusual activities across the international border and the LoC.

According to official intelligence sources, the Pakistan rangers guarding the Indo-Pak border in Pakistan has ‘augmented’ its force and machinery near the border, following which the BSF in the state has also increased its vigil.

A top BSF official on the condition of anonymity said they had been witnessing an increase in activities across the border following the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

However, the strange thing that the security agencies in India have seen post-Mumbai terror attacks was that there has been no violation of the November 2003 ceasefire.

“The increase in activities has been witnessed at various places across the border. We have witnessed mobilisation of troops, equipments and movement of their top officers along the LoC has also increased.” a defence source said.

Though Jammu-based PRO of the Ministry of Defence S.N. Acharya refused to comment on the issue, it has been reported that the Army and the BSF guarding the LoC and the border have been directed to use night-vision devices to detect any sort of unusual activities across the border.