On Wednesday morning, a group of women wearing black Abayas, a loose-fitted full-length robe, entered the Islamia College of Science and Commerce in Hawal area of downtown Srinagar to cast their ballots.
“We want to end this long-drawn-out bureaucratic rule and to have our representative government,” they said before going inside the polling station.
The college, which housed four polling stations, bore witness to a horrific massacre. On May 21, 1990, just a short walk away, 60 civilians were shot dead and more than 200 injured when bullets rained down on the funeral procession of Mirwaiz Farooq, Kashmir’s head priest.
The area comes under Zadibal Assembly constituency and was known for boycotting the elections. Those who voted, usually tried to conceal their participation. In 2008, the constituency witnessed a poll percentage of 17. 3.
By 7 pm on Wednesday, the Assembly segment recorded a voter turnout of 28.36 per cent. Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing its first Assembly elections in a decade. During the second phase of polling on Wednesday, 26 seats spanning across six districts --Srinagar, Ganderbal, Budgam, Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch -- went to polls. A total of 239 candidates are in the fray. The voting commenced at 7 am and continued till 6 pm. An overall voting turnout of 54. 11 percent recorded by 7 pm. While Jammu division’s Reasi district witnessed a high voter turnout of 71.81 per cent, Srinagar recorded the lowest at 27.37 per cent.
Crucial Contest
Former Chief Minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah is contesting from Srinagar and Budgam Assembly seats.
Initially, Omar had refused to contest elections till statehood was restored. He, however, gave in to the pressure from his party and filed his nomination papers from both the seats.
In Ganderbal, which has sent three generations of Abdullahs to the Assembly, Omar has a direct contest with PDP’s Bashir Ahmad Mir, a rescuer, and former NC leader Ishfaq Jabbar, who floated his own party earlier this year. Additionally, incarcerated separatist leader Sarjan Barkati, whose daughter filed his nomination papers, is also challenging the former Chief Minister.
In Budgam, Omar is largely riding on the Shia votes with the constituency having around 25 per cent such votes. NC leader and Lok Sabha member and influential Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is garnering support for him. However, Syed Muntazir Mehdi, son of another Shia cleric and Hurriyat leader Aga Syed Hassan Mosavi, contesting on the ticket of PDP poses a significant challenge to his support base.
Steering clear of polling booths
Barely 3 km from Hawal, dozens of youth chose to play cricket in Eidgah instead of turning to polling booths. “This Assembly won’t be having any powers. These representatives will be like toothless tigers,” said Irfan Ahmad.
Another youth said that the previous governments failed to give any relief to people, eroding their faith in democratic process.
Visit by diplomats
A group of diplomats from 15 countries showed up in Srinagar at around 10 am to witness the polling. Besides US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Jorgan Andrews, the group included senior diplomats from Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain and Norway.
The diplomats, accompanied by the officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, visited various polling stations.
After visiting a pink polling booth in Chinarbagh Lal Chowk, a diplomat from Panama said that she enjoyed being here in Kashmir on polling day.
Criticising the visit, Omar told reporters that elections were an internal matter of India.
Billing the tour as guided, Omar said that the government wanted to take the credit of people’s participation in the electoral process, which he described as a betrayal with the people.