Which planet is Mirwaiz Farooq living on?
“By staying away from polls, the people have proved they are not interested in election or selection. The government is staging a drama to fool the international community but it has failed…
so said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the “moderate” Hurriyat in a news-report today.
AÂ turnout of 65% – braving extreme cold – does not sound like “staying away fom polls” to me…
Or is the Mirwaiz upset that the Hurriyat’s boycott call went unheeded and “large number of people, especially women and first-time voters, turned up at the polling stations to exercise their franchise…”?
Some interesting observations:
…Women came out in large numbers outnumbering their male counterparts to vote in all the six constituencies that went to polls on Sunday [ link ]
The EC had engaged more than 300 “micro observers” to report on (and minimize any)Â polling irregularities [ link ]
Quote from Bashir Manzar, editor from Srinagar:
“They (separatists) should not embarrass themselves furthermore by giving excuses like polling was under the gun and it’s bogus voting. Kashmiris are voting for jobs, electricity and daily life needs… things that cannot wait till the Kashmir issue is resolved,” [ link ] them,” Rasool said.
The turnout exceeded the numbers recorded in 2002 by a huge margin:
“In Kangan constituency, 60.02% cast their votes, while 44.33 exercised their franchise in Ganderbal. Nowshera, Darhal, Rajouri and Kalakote in Rajouri recorded 70, 73, 67 and 73 per cents,†Divisional commissioner Masood Samoon said.
In 2002, the turnout in Kangan was 52.03%, Ganderbal 35.21%, 27.05% in militancy-hit Rajouri, Darhal 46%, Nowshera 57.86% and Kalakote 48.66%. [ link ]
But some people – such as the BBC reporters – will always see the dark side of the moon: Violence marks Kashmir electionÂ
Violence has erupted during the second stage of state elections in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir, where thousands of troops have been deployed.
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Related Posts
“End the Moral Idiocy on Kashmir†– excerptsÂ
India – Pakistan: Notes from an IslandÂ
The great joke that is Indian media – Part IVÂ
The Hurriyat is getting nervous:
Security personnel fanned out in Srinagar and other towns of the Valley as the separatist coordination committee…called for protests after the Friday prayers against holding of assembly elections.
The committee had asked people to observe complete shutdown and stage a march towards Pulwama and Shopian districts which will go to polls in the fifth phase tomorrow.