Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 09/23/02

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE= KASHMIR ELECTIONS / VIOLENCE

NUMBER=5-52294

BYLINE= JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE= MIR HAMA KULGUM, KASHMIR

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Voters in Indian-administered Kashmir return to the polls

Tuesday, to vote in the second phase of a four-phase election to fill

seats in the state assembly. Nearly 500 people have died in

election-related violence since the polling dates were announced, August Second. There are fears that this year's election could be the bloodiest in

Kashmir's violent history. V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports from one

small town in Kashmir, where this year's election violence has shattered

a family's peace.

TEXT:

/// ACTUALITY OF WOMEN WAILING, IN AND UNDER ///

The women of Mir Hama Kulgam are grieving for one of their own -- Naza Akhtar, a vibrant, pretty, 20-year-old woman who died Saturday, in a hail of gunfire in the village schoolyard.

It was just before noon in Mir Hama Kulgam, when a convoy of cars,

led by Sakino Itoo -- the Jammu and Kashmir tourism minister -- crossed

the small bridge over the stream that that runs through the village.

There was an explosion. Separatist militants had detonated a bomb underneath

the bridge in their fourth attempt in recent days to kill Sakino Itoo --

a young up-and-coming female politician, who belongs to the state's

ruling National Conference Party. Sakino Itoo survived unharmed. Naza

Akhtar was not so lucky.

When she heard the blast, Naza Akhtar ran towards the nearby school,

where her brother is a teacher. Panicked paramilitary troops guarding Sakina Itoo opened fire, in the confusion. As she entered the schoolyard, Naza Akhtar was cut down by the gunfire. Villagers say more than 20 other people -- most of them schoolchildren -- were also wounded.

Now, the village of Mir Hama Kulgam is in shock. Naza Akhtar's father,

Abdul Rehman Padder, grieves for his lost daughter.

/// URDU ACTUALITY OF MAN CRYING, IN AND UNDER //

Abdul Rehman says Naza was to be married soon and he had begun

collecting gifts for her dowry. Now, he says her life is gone and his

family is shattered. He says -- with his only daughter dead -- he has no

idea how he will go on.

Naza Akhtar is one of the latest casualties of this year's violent

election campaign in Indian-administered Kashmir. Hundreds of people have

died. Many, like Naza Akhtar, were innocent victims of the violence.

Separatist militants have threatened to kill anyone voting.

Mohammed Yousef Taragami is the sitting representative for the Kulgam

District. Just a few days ago, Mr. Taragami -- a leading member of one of

India's two communist parties -- survived an assassination attempt. The same

day that they tried to kill Mr. Taragami, separatists killed two members of

his party in a nearby village. Mr. Taragami says this year's campaign is

the most violent he has seen in recent years.

/// TARAGAMI ACTUALITY ///

I must tell you I have participated in the (19)96 elections. I was here

in the '98 parliamentary elections. I participated in the '99 elections. But

the level of fear I am witnessing now has never been seen before -- the

level of fear among the people. Obviously, it is because the extremist

elements are desperately trying not to allow this political process

to succeed -- not to allow the people to participate in the elections.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

Mohammed Yousef Taragami says especially troubling this year is the

large number of civilians who have died in election violence. He

says many, like Naza Akhtar, have been caught between separatist

militants and security forces.

/// OPTIONAL TARAGAMI ACTUALITY ///

The people are sandwiched between terror and counter-terror. This

is a vicious circle, now. On the one hand, terrorists initiate violence

and, then, the security forces become reckless in the responses. The net

result is that civilians get sandwiched between the two guns. This

is unfortunate and this is what our situation is.

/// END OPTIONAL ACTUALITY ///

Mohammed Yousef Taragami says, as bad as things are this year, he

believes it is vital for everyone to vote. He says not voting, not only

rewards the violence espoused by the separatist militants, but also allows

the status quo in Kashmir to go unchallenged. He says more than a

decade of violence in Kashmir should have taught the people of the state that

allowing things to continue as they are is just as unbearable as the

violence and intimidation that pervades their daily lives.

/// REST OPTIONAL ///

Mohammed Yousef Taragami says he would encourage Naza Akhtar's

father, Abdul Rehman Padder, and other family members to vote. However Abdul

Rehman says he will have none of Mr. Taragami's arguments about ending

violence through voting. He says it is the voting that has brought the violence.

/// URDU ACTUALITY, IN AND UNDER ///

Abdul Rehman Padder says this year's election has taken his daughter's

life. He says many other innocent Kashmiris have died in the violence

and that no election is worth their lives.

Abdul Rehman Padder says he will not vote, no one in his family will

vote and none of his other relatives and friends will vote this year.

He says this year's election has ruined his life. (Signed)

neb/jlt/wd