[Reader-list] "55 per cent turnout in first phase of J-K polls" (Phase 1)

Tue Nov 18 16:58:12 IST 2008

Dear Shivam

Should one give credence to the biased fantasies of Mirwaiz or the words of Fatima from Bandipora "who lost her son Mumtaz Ahmad Bhat in the police firing in the mass uprising"

For obvious reasons Fatima calls those cast their votes "traitors". Abid Gani Wani in "Voters betray martyrs" (Etalat)  prefacing with "Amid the passion and poll fervor among the people in Bandipora", quotes Fatima as saying:

""""""" “I do not have any regret that the people are rushing to the polling stations but the persons who are eager to cast their votes are the same who instigated the youths to carry out the protests marches against the oppression,”"""""
http://etalaat.com/english/News/front-page/3645.html

Fatima says " ... the people are rushing to the polling stations". 

The Mirwaiz seems to have as abysmal an understanding of the word "majority" as you have of the word "abysmal"

The reported percentages of voting would be the envy of any Democracy (where Voting is not mandatory).

Just to give you some perspective. In 1997  Nawaz Sharif's PML  came to power in Pakistan with a two-thirds majority. Only 35.2% of the electorate had participated in the polls. No one questions the 'democratic legitimacy' of that government.

In the USA, in the last 36 years for 10 Presidential Elections, the voter turnout has meandered between 49% to 56% with a breakthrough in 2008 to (reportedly) 64%.

The Mirwaiz sounds foolish in his "under the barrel of the gun" refrain when it comes to ensuring that a smooth and violence free conduct of the polling takes place.

In India, one of the main reasons for staggered dates on which to conduct polling for both State Assembly and the National Loksabha elections is the logistical constraints for provisioning of security arrangements for the polling.

A few days back I had posted "The Power of Democracy" by B A Tariq wherein he comments "The boycott calls given by some groups are in fact indicative of their lack of support base among the masses and they appear to be conscious of it". Seems prophetic today.

In "Greater Kashmir", Arif Shafi & Tasim Zahid have written a piece "Flawed Elections, But Boycott Call Had Few Takers". 
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=18_11_2008&ItemID=76&cat=1

Talking about Bandipora District (Bandipora, Sonawari & Gurez) they write:

"""""" Political observers were expecting people would boycott the polls, in response to the call given by pro-freedom groups. But on Monday, the district surprised everyone, even the government which wasn’t expecting such a decent voter turnout as today.""""""

In "Etalaat", Izhar Ali (" Protests, clashes, shutdown on first phase of polling in Kashmir") makes some observations:
http://etalaat.com/english/News/front-page/3636.html

- "..... at some places the rush of people prompted the authorities to extend the deadline."

- "Much to the astonishment of the pro-freedom leaders who had called for a complete boycott of the 7-phase assembly elections in the state, thousands of people casted their votes in the first phase of assembly elections in the state today."

- "Early morning scores of men and women lined up at most of the polling booths across North Kashmir’s Bandipore and Sonawari constituency that went for polls on Monday. Not just men but women too were eagerly waiting for their turn to cast their vote."

- "In Nowgam area of Sumbal, ........ long queues of men and women charged the atmosphere with the people pulling and pushing each other to cast the vote first."

- " The mood was no different at Gund Khaleel, where troops and police had a tough time to control hundreds of enthusiastic voters."

The Mirwaiz should do some thinking before making foolish statements.

Kshmendra

-- On Tue, 11/18/08, Shivam V <lists at shivamvij.com> wrote:

From: Shivam V <lists at shivamvij.com>
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "55 per cent turnout in first phase of J-K polls" (Phase 1)
To: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 2:10 PM

Elections under the gun: Mirwaiz

18 November, 2008
http://etalaat.com/english/News/news-scan/3646.html

Srinagar, November 17: Accusing the authorities of holding elections
in Jammu and Kashmir "under the barrel of the gun", separatist leader
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said with the majority of the people remaining
away from polling booths is a "victory for the pro-freedom" parties.

The elections to be held in seven phases over a month come after
massive pro-separatist demonstrations in the Muslim-dominated valley
earlier this year.

 "First we don't have an independent mechanism to confirm these
official voting figures. And if these are understood to be true then
what about the majority of the people who didn't vote," said the
Mirwaiz.

"Is not that our victory? It's a vindication for pro-freedom
leaders."

"The elections were held under the barrel of the gun. You can't have
free and fair polling in the presence of hundreds of thousands of
armed troopers," the Mirwaiz, who heads his faction of the separatist
Hurriyat Conference, said.

The Mirwaiz, under house arrest since Thursday, said the separatist
leaders were not allowed to hold anti-election campaigns.

 "Whenever we planned to hold anti-poll rallies, curfew was imposed in
the valley,and they call it democratic process," he said, adding the
elections were held only to cement India's hold on Kashmir.

"Even on Monday, people were subjected to hardships in the valley by
imposing restrictions because we had planned to hold peaceful
anti-election rally.

"Even then some people braving police resistance took out an anti-poll
march," he said.

Separatist leaders, many of them jailed in the run up to the polls,
had urged the people to march towards Bandipora and Sonawari — the two
constituencies where voting was held Monday — to "counter" the
elections. Agencies

On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 9:05 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
wrote:
> End of the day reported figures for the Sonawari Assembly Constituency are
42% as also 42% for Bandipora Assembly Constituency
>
> Doesnt sound very abysmal. Possibly now the allegations of
"rigging" will flow.
>
>
> Kshmendra
>
>
> "55 per cent turnout in first phase of J-K polls" (PTI)
>
http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20081117/1419/tnl-55-per-cent-turnout-in-first-phase-o.html
>
>
> Mon, Nov 17 07:04 PM
>
> Srinagar/Leh, Nov 17 (PTI) Braving freezing temperatures and ignoring
separatists' boycott call, Voters came out in large numbers in some towns
with an average 55 per cent turnout recorded in the first phase of the Assembly
elections in Jammu and Kashmir held amid unprecedented security. The turnout was
moderate to heavy and voting passed off peacefully except for stray incidents of
violence and protests amid threats of militants disrupting the polls which was
held in a curfew-like situation in 10 constituencies spread over four districts
of Bandipora, Poonch, Leh and Kargil.
>
> Polling in the border state has been staggered over seven phases lasting
up to December 24. Around 55 per cent polling was registered in the 10
constituencies, Chief electoral officer B R Sharma told reporters in Srinagar.
>
> Sharma said Gurez constituency in the once terrorist-infested Bandipora
district recorded the highest voting-- 74 per cent-- followed by Mendhar (65),
Poonch (64), Surankote (58), Kargil (57), Nobra (55), Leh (53), Zanskar (48) and
Bandipora and Sonawari (42 each). Srinagar, Bandipora and other towns were
almost totally locked down, as thousands of troops were out in force to prevent
anti-election rallies.
>
> An estimated six lakh voters were eligible to vote in the first phase. At
least seven persons including a woman were injured as police fired a few teargas
shells and used batons to disperse people protesting against holding of assembly
elections in Bandipora district, official sources said.
>
> The separatist co-ordination committee had given a call for 'Jehan
election waha challo' (march to where elections are). But the march to
Bandipora, 65 km north of Srinagar town, was foiled by security forces.
>
> PTI.
>
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> "Voting ends peacefully in Jammu and Kashmir" (IANS)
>
http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20081117/818/tnl-voting-ends-peacefully-in-jammu-and.html
>
> Mon, Nov 17 06:24 PM
>
> Srinagar/Jammu, Nov 17 (IANS) Voting ended peacefully in Jammu and Kashmir
for the first phase of the seven-phase elections Monday with a large number of
people exercising their franchise despite a call for boycott by Muslim
separatists.
>
> Polling started at 8 a.m. amid tight security in 10 constituencies spread
over the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley, the Hindu-majority Jammu region and
the mainly Buddhist Ladakh. The voting for the 87 constituencies is being held
in seven phases over a month.
> Barring a clash between a group of people protesting against the elections
in Bandipora town and the police and a scuffle between workers of National
Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the neighbouring Sonawari
constituency, balloting progressed smoothly, said a poll official.
>
> Polling had to be suspended in one polling station in Sonawari
constituency after a clash broke out between the workers of National Conference
and the Peoples Democratic Party over counter-allegations of booth capturing.
>
> Members of both the parties destroyed some electronic voting machines,
forcing the authorities to suspend polling. In a few constituencies in Poonch
region, polling time was extended by an hour.
>
> Barring Jammu region, the final poll percentage was awaited as poll
officials said they were compiling data from different constituencies.
>
> The final polling percentages in Jammu region were, Mendhar 67 percent,
Poonch Haveli 60 and Surankot 55.
>
> The figures for the four seats in Ladakh region as on 2 p.m. were Zanskar
45, Kargil 42, Nobra 36 and Leh 32.2 as on 2 p.m.
>
> At 2 p.m., Gurez in the Kashmir Valley had topped with 51 percent followed
by Bandipora 29 and Sonawari 28. This is significant given the boycott call of
the separatists and the fear of violence in the region.
>
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>
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