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Voting begins in strike-hit Kashmir

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Srinagar, India, April 30, IRNA - The second round of elections for the Indian parliament began in Kashmir Thursday, under the shadow of a boycott, with separatist sponsored 50-hour long shutdown and heavy police restrictions, throwing normal life out of gear.

Few voters out of 1.16 million came out to vote in the south Kashmir parliamentary constituency of Anantnag also known as Islamabad till 10 A.M, official sources told IRNA.

The 1,485 polling booths in the four districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama opened at 7 a.m. amid tight security with only four percent turnout recorded in the first three hours of polling, they said.

The exercise held amidst a poll boycott call given by separatist parties and militant groups, was however proceeding smoothly, reports said.

The main contest in the constituency is said to be between Mirza Mehboob Beg of the ruling National Conference (NC) and Peer Muhammad Hussain of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP had swept the assembly polls held recently in this constituency.

Anantnag is the first of the three parliamentary constituencies of the Kashmir valley to go to the polls.

Voting in the prestigious Srinagar seat is scheduled for May 7 and Baramulla seat for May 13.

Meanwhile the entire Kashmir valley was brought to a standstill for the second consecutive day by a 50-hour strike call and police restrictions on public movement.

Earlier yesterday violence had erupted in a number of places, leaving over a score of persons injured, even as authorities placed the leaders of both factions of the Hurriyat Conference and a number of other separatist leaders under house arrest.

The strike call by the hardline Hurriyat chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to enforce a boycott of Thursday’s polls in south Kashmir, coupled with massive restrictions by authorities, paralyzed life in the valley as commercial activities remained suspended and transport services ground to a halt.

Schools, government offices, banks and private businesses throughout Kashmir remained closed, and streets and markets wore a deserted look during the strike that came into force on Tuesday evening.

Thousands of police and paramilitary troopers had been moved into various parts of the city in anticipation of trouble, and roadblocks and obstructions erected on main streets curbed movement between Srinagar areas extensively.