JK PANORAMA VOL 3 ISSUE 9

over its decision to boycott the upcoming
civic polls, saying he would stand in the
elections from Srinagar.
“Based on my humble disagreement with the
party's decision to boycott the upcoming
ULB and Panchayat Polls, I have just sent
my resignation from the party to the JKNC
General Secretary,” Mattu, who was NC's
spokesperson wrote on Twitter. Mattu's
resignation has been accepted, a party leader
said. Backing his decision Mattu wrote that
leaving grassroots democratic institutions
“open to misrepresentation” would inflict
serious harm on the state, and wreak havoc
with social fabric and cultural legacy.
The announcement, however, has
taken former panchayat members by surprise,
and they are reluctant to participate in any such
exercise. Ghulam Hassan Panzoo, a former
sarpanch from Kupwara, believes that the
situation in the Valley is not conducive for any
kind of poll exercise.
Insecurity around contesting polls
“Many civilians have been killed this year as
well. People are angry and voter turnout could
be low. We want voter turnout to be above 90
percent. So the government should defer
elections by at least a few months,” he says.
Panzoo, who believes that a sense of insecurity
prevails among former panchs, suggests that
the government extend the services of
previously elected panchayat members.
“Funds for development are lapsing every
year. The government should extend our
services till a conducive atmosphere for polls
is created in Kashmir,” he says. Panzoo also
demands security for at least 40 sarpanchs of
the Valley.
Bashir Ahmad Malik, a former
sarpanch of Hakripora in Pulwama district of
South Kashmir, claims that incomplete probes
into panch killings had left many insecure
about contesting elections this time. “Why
aren't these unidentified gunmen identified?
When our police and government take no time
to solve other cases why the delays here? We
are being silenced as our work made many
ministers insecure,” he says.
Malik says previous regimes had
"deliberately" disempowered panchayats.
“The mass participation of people in
panchayat elections and public support made
them worried about their future. They
(ministers) thought legislators would be
sidelined, so they did everything to restrict our
powers,” he says.
Chairman of All Jammu and Kashmir
Panchayat Conference Shafiq Mir demands
that panchayat elections be kept aloof from
politics, saying the interference of politicians
by “forcibly associating panchs and sarpanchs
with their parties" had troubled them in the
past. “We want politicians and political parties
not to interfere in panchayat polls. It has
nothing to do with politics or even the Kashmir
issue. We are like numberdars or chowkidars
who oversee development of villages,” he
says.
T h e A l l J a m m u a n d K a s h m i r
Panchayat Conference chairman says that
interference by political parties has cost the
lives of many of their members. “Tension
grew only after political parties credited the
success of panchs to their parties. We are like
Masjid Committees. We will ask our members
not to associate themselves with political
parties,” Mir says.
When the elections were announced,
there was the usual attempt by vested interests
to disrupt the same. Separatist leadership
exhorted the people to boycott them, while
terrorists issued diktats of dire circumstances
for those who dared to step out of their houses
to vote.
Nazir Ahmad Dar, a former sarpanch
from Pulwama district of South Kashmir said,
“It is to the credit of the people that they defied
all pressure to participate in the democratic
process. Even the unfortunate killing of a few
candidates did not deter the public from the
path of exercising the right to vote as a free and
democratic society. Ultimately, the elections
culminated with resounding success which
gave a slap on the face of those who were
against the process”.
Sadly, the state government, that had
got the elections conducted with such
conviction, fell short of leveraging the
resounding results. No sooner were steps
taken for devolution of powers to the elected
representatives, the terrorists jumped in to take
a piece of the economic pie, especially so, in
the Kashmir Valley. On not receiving the
money demanded, they issued threats to the
07 SEPTEMBER 2018 PANORAMA
JK