Kashmiri Pandits express anguish over missing names from voters' list

Anantnag, May 25:   Many Kashmiri Pandits expressed anguish on Saturday, claiming that their names were missing from the voters' list, terming it an “unfortunate” incident for a group that remained in the Kashmir despite the terrorism period of the 1990s.

The issue arose at a polling station set up at the Government Higher Secondary School Mattan in Anantnag. Poll officials did not immediately comment on the claims made by members of the small community living in a cluster in Anantnag district.

Residents, who have been born and brought up in Anantnag and possess Aadhaar and election cards. They said that they were “not allowed” to cast their votes at the polling station.

The aggrieved voters contacted the Anantnag deputy commissioner-cum-returning officer over the issue of missing names from the voters' list and were assured that the matter would be resolved, but “nothing was done,” they said.

“We did not leave our home. I have a voter slip and an election card, and I have cast my vote before. But it is unfortunate that today I am not able to exercise my right. I am sad,” said a Kashmiri Pandit. “In a democratic country, everyone has the right to vote. We are citizens of this country.”

Prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader Ravinder Pandita expressed surprise over the exclusion of members of his community from the voters' list. “Though there was an exercise to include us in the Kashmir voter list last year, I got only one member out of five. What is the methodology? Disappointed,” Pandita wrote on X.

He urged the Election Commission and the J&K chief electoral officer to revise the electoral lists for the forthcoming assembly elections in the Union Territory, stressing that their vote matters in the Valley and they cannot be kept away from exercising their franchise.

A voter turnout of 51.35 percent was recorded in the constituency till 5 pm. There are 20 candidates in the fray, including PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who faces significant challenges from National Conference leader Mian Altaf and Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Khan Manhas, who is backed by the BJP. Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) leader Mohammad Saleem Parray and 10 independents are also contesting from the constituency.