J&K’s special status high on voters’ mind

SHABIR IBN YUSUF/SAQIB MALIK

The enthusiasm witnessed during panchayat and assembly elections was missing on Thursday in Uri segment of the northern Baramulla parliamentary seat.

Instead of long queues, voters came individually or in small groups to the polling stations. “Parliamentary elections are not as important as the assembly elections,” said Javaid Ahmad, an elderly voter.

At polling station number 115 (B), 227 out of 716 votes had been polled by 11am.

Ghulam Qadir, a resident of Uri, said, “Sluggish voting is because parliamentary candidates never show their face after election. MLA is always accessible”.

A group of youth announced that they voted for AIP candidate Er Abdur Rashid.

“We voted for him because he always speaks about Kashmir issue and mental harassment faced by Kashmiris. He always speaks truth forwhich he is often beaten or lodged in police custody and sometimes thrown out from the assembly,” said Ishrat Bashir, 23.

Another group of youngsters said they voted to safeguard Articles 370 and 35A.

“We voted to save our identity. We voted for Er Rashid,”Bashir said. “We are not concerned about jobs or development but we need resolution of Kashmir issue.”

Another group of youth expressed their resentment against two former chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, saying they both” stage dramas” when out of power.

“Both of them love their chair and try their best to befool people to gain sympathy when they are out of power,” said Ishtiyaq Ahmad, 25.

As many as 148 out of 624 votes were polled at 11am at a polling station setup in a higher secondary school in Uri.

Expecting their vote might stall the attacks on special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, tens of hundreds of people voted in Kupwara district.

In Handwara, a group of youngsters who had voted for the first time in their lives came out of polling booth number 73.

“We were eligible for vote in last election also but we didn’t cast vote then. Today we voted only to safeguard the special status of Kashmir,” said Abrar who believes only mainstream politicians can safeguard the special status.

“It is time for mainstream politicians to not allow anybody to fiddle with the special status,” he added.

In Langate, Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, a driver by profession, said no Member Parliament from Kashmir has helped the state get all-weather road connectivity with the rest of the country.

“We had to face hardships during the winter because of the highway closure,” he said.