Urge for development, jobs drives Bandipora residents to vote

Bandipora, May 20: The areas that traditionally boycotted elections in north Kashmir’s Bandipora witnessed voters making a beeline outside polling booths in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.

Shabir Ahmad Mir, 35, from Plan Bandipora, who came out to vote for the first time, shared why he voted in this election. “I want a change in the system,” Mir said, adding, “I want to dedicate my precious vote to someone who holds credibility.”

He said his vote was rejecting traditional politicians because they were power-hungry and continuously switching parties.

In the nearby Bagh locality, young first-time voters who didn’t want to share names said they were casting ballots for the first time to “see what our vote can do,” not specifying if it was for development.

The same enthusiasm was witnessed among young voters around town and peripheries, some of whom said they were going out of their way to elect “a leader of our choice.”

Far from social media clamour

The elderly and those living in uphill areas, far from social media clamour, expressed a desire to cast ballots for the traditional parties but with a slight change: to choose someone who will be the voice of the people in parliament.

Mohammad Sultan Lone, 95, from Chuntimullah, an uphill semi-tribal village, said, “My vote aims to choose a leader who will talk on our behalf. For my whole life, I have cast a vote for one party but they disrespected it.”

“Now for the change, I have chosen to vote for someone who comes from a strong background. He is energetic and hope is his voice will resonate in the parliament,” Lone said, adding that his area was remote and lacked development.

Similarly, Abdul Rasheed Lone, 60, said development was the main reason for him to cast a ballot. “We get a handful of rice from the government which should be addressed. We also want better roads, regular electricity, and proper medical care facilities.”

Lone said there was just a trickle of social media content the youth in the villages were consuming due to poor cellular networks and frankly, “we have not been influenced by it.”

“We know a leader from Langate who is currently in jail, and there is nothing much we have heard about it,” Lone said. “We’re influenced by those who we think are strong and by those who will be heard in the parliament,” Lone added.

First-time voter, Aehsan Bashir Lone, a college-going student, said, “Development is the main reason I am voting.”Moreover, he wants a proper road to reach college and avail himself of transport that is convenient and pocket-friendly. Aehsan also specified the restoration of statehood and Article 370, “This is the only thing which can ensure our jobs and a secure future,” he said.

Mudasir Ahmad Khan, 20, a first-time voter from the uphill village of Chuntimullah, said the reason for his vote is “development and peace,” adding, “Our village is the most underdeveloped.”

He also expressed anguish about the lack of proper roads, healthcare, and electricity saying, “We want to bring someone in power who can change all this.”

Khan expressed, “We are living like animals and even in the age of the internet, we can’t access social media.”

Khan’s sentiments were echoed by one more youth, Sahil Ahamad Khan, 21, who said, “We want better roads, water, electricity, and beds and doctors in the hospital. Moreover, we also want a proper cellular network.”

In Shokbaba village, also a semi-tribal community, first-time voters Zahid Ahmad Khan, 20, and Mumtaz Khan, 25, expressed similar sentiments about the lack of development, jobs, and medical care. “This is the first time I am experimenting with my vote. I want enough jobs,” Zahid, a college-going student whose father works as a carpenter, says. Zahid said his father was struggling to make ends meet and that he too had to occasionally work to earn extra for fees and other liabilities.

In a conversation with a few middle-aged people at Takiya Ahmad Khan village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, they said inflation has broken their backs. “There is no representation. Inflation has skyrocketed and there is joblessness and lack of development everywhere,” Mohammad Sultan Lone said.

“Our sole purpose in voting is to choose a representative who listens to the poor,” Lone added.

He said, “We were promised the abrogation of Article 370 would open doors to huge development in J&K, but we have waited and seen nothing happen on the ground.”

Lone said, “Despite being an Indian state and accepting India and its constitution, our demands are not getting fulfilled, our problems are getting more and more complicated.”

“Besides not having a popular government for these years has cost us a lot. Local politicians knew our problems. But for now, our voices go unheard. So having local representations like old times is what we want so that development takes place and the inflation which has broken our backs is kept under check,” Lone said.

He also highlighted the lack of basic amenities in his village and expressed hope that his village also witnessed a dawn of development.

Abdul Rasheed Wani, 50, a mason, said, “I am unable to find work regularly. People seem to have grown economically weaker. This trend, which started eight years ago, is getting worse day by day.”