Sham polls

Holding regional general elections needs participation of people, meetings at public places by candidates and political parties, door to door canvassing, media coverage, presence of independent observers by the world watch groups, display of banners and posters that must create an ambiance to make the electorate believe that a representative government will come into being to serve it. What is happening in occupied Kashmir in the name of regional elections is just the opposite. With many political radicals like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Hurriyet leaders, Maulana Abbas Ansari and Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, put under house arrest, large scale deployment of military and para-military troops, streets deserted and reports of clashes between political activists and police coming from many places, New Delhi is hell-bent to show the world that democratic norms exist in the strife-torn valley, and holding the polls is a testimony of it. Amid boycott calls by Kashmir Coordination Committee (KCC), the state is nowhere near giving the looks of an area fit for holding free, fair and transparent elections.
Not being able to ensure holding the polls in one go due to large scale turbulence, the interim state government, under instructions from New Delhi, will hold elections in phases. On Monday polling was due to be held in Gurez, Bandipora, Sonawari, Leh, Nobra, Zanskar, Kargil, Surankot, Mendhar and Poonch-Haveli. People were asked to assemble at Jamia Masjid, Dargah Hazratbal, Dastgeer Sahib Sara-i-Bala and Gaw kadal in Srinagar and by doing so show to the world that the people of the valley were in no way ready to participate in the façade elections in the name of which India is trying to put out of sight the long freedom struggle in the valley. The leaders who have been confined to their houses, had earlier asked people to boycott the polls, demanding the right of plebiscite as granted to them by the United Nations when India had gone to the UNO back in 1948 promising to resolve the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan according to the will of the valley people.
Pakistan and India had fought three wars on Kashmir but the valley’s territorial position remains unchanged. The two sides have struck many agreements, involving Kashmiri leadership, to settle the dispute in a peaceful manner. But India’s attitude of dragging her heels on the issue is not allowing the matter to come to a peaceful end. The dispute is well known the world over. Since Pakistan and India both are in possession of nuclear weapons, the world fears that the flashpoint of Kashmir may lead to some catastrophe for the whole world. The US president-elect, Barack Obama, mindful of the danger of the Kashmir issue, believes in undertaking some immediate diplomatic exercise to settle the question before it is too late. This issue is not allowing South Asia to offer the type of conditions needed for foreign investments as the region continues to be one of the poorest on the globe. India’s stubbornness to show that Kashmir under its occupation is in peace and life is normal has time and again proved detrimental to bring prosperity to the valley in particular, and the region in general. It is time Indian leadership showed democratic spirit and allowed the people of Kashmir to decide their future of their own free will.COURTESY The Post.