Statehood, basic amenities on mind as Hazratbal constituency voters enter polling booths

Srinagar, Sep 25: Ghulam Rasool Kuthoo, an octogenarian, used his stick to walk the uphill polling station located in the Chatrahama area of Hazratbal constituency. He says that in his six decades of voting age, he has never felt the importance of exercising his franchise like he does today. Kuthoo said that in addition to basic amenities, this assembly voting is vital to what he calls regaining the lost identity.

“Almost every party has promised us the restoration of statehood and fighting for the special status that we had for decades. We hope to get a representative to work towards these goals and ensure overall peace and prosperity. Our religion also teaches us that even if we are a small group of people, we have to ensure to choose one leader, and we have lacked the same for a decade now. Despite my health and age, I gathered myself up and walked to this polling booth hoping for change,” Kuthoo said.

Hazratbal constituency witnessed long queues since the early morning of Wednesday as people of all ages and genders were seen casting votes in huge numbers. By 1 pm over 18 percent of votes had been cast in this constituency.

The voters said that the Hazratbal constituency has some outskirt pockets, which they said have been facing neglect for a long time despite being part of the summer capital Srinagar. In addition to the issues of statehood and special status, people are also coming out to have basic facilities that these areas lack.

“Despite being part of the capital city, we have been neglected for a long time now. Most of the departments treat us as if we are not part of Srinagar. Areas like Chatrahama, Danihama, Ahal, Shopribagh, Burzahama, Inderhama, and adjoining areas don’t have basic amenities like roads and public transport. We used to have an MLA who was at least accessible, but for the past decade, we have had no representative, and we are left at the mercy of bureaucrats,” said Abdul Ahad, another voter.

The voters in these Hazratbal outskirts said that they crave for basic amenities, from a small thing like an ATM to a street light. “We don’t have facilities like ATMs, banks, or even normal public transport. There have been instances when we were forced to repair roads on our own as these areas are completely neglected."

In areas like Darbagh and Mulphaq Hazratbal, people said that in addition to these basic facilities, they are facing chronic unemployment. Scores of voters at the polling station in Mulphaq said that they want to choose a representative who will raise their issue of unemployment.

“About 80 percent of the people here work as laborers and do other menial jobs. There are very few government jobs in our area. Today, many of our youngsters skip the day of work to cast their vote in order to secure their future. Issues like skyrocketing electricity bills and related issues are known to everyone,” said Ghulam Nabi, a voter at the Mulphaq Hazratbal polling booth.