THE WORLD MUST LOOK UP TO US. MEDICAL TOURISM IS BECOMING A REALITY AND MANY PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT CORNERS OF THE WORLD ARE COMING TO INDIA FOR TREATMENT.
Many of the SPOS take to social media to distance themselves from police department; fear grips parties contesting polls
Conference (AJKPC), an organisation of former panchayat members of the state.
The AJKPC had earlier announced that its members would contest the rural bodies’ polls to be held in November and December amid calls from militants and separatists to boycott the elections.
SPOS Nissar Ahmad, Firdous Ahmad Kuchay and Kuldeep Singh were killed after suspected militants barged into their homes in Shopian and abducted them early on Friday. Hours later, their bodies were recovered nearby.
The polls for 72 municipal committees, six municipal councils and two municipal corporations will start from October 8 while elections to 35,096 panch constituencies will be held in nine phases from November 17. In the last four days, the response to calls to file nomination for the municipal polls has been very poor.
An official of the urban local bodies said the enthusiasm among people for filing nomination for the municipal polls has been missing. “The emerging situation has put an effect on the overall election process and the latest killings of policemen will obviously have an impact. From the government side, preparations are on in full swing,” he said. The state’s two major political parties, National Conference and Peoples’ Democratic Party, have announced that they will not participate in the elections, citing an “atmosphere of fear” due to the “assault on the special constitutional position (Article 35 A)” of Jammu and Kashmir.
Last month, militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen issued a strong warning to those planning to participate in the polls, asking them to get shrouds along with elections forms. The separatists have asked people to boycott the polls, saying India projects elections in the state as a “referendum in its favour.”
J&K chief election officer Shaleen Kabra said the subdued response to filing nomination was a “usual process”. “In every election, the process starts up slowly. We expect people will participate in these elections as these are meant for local issues. Not only the candidates, but we expect people to come out to vote,” Kabra said.
MUSCULAR POLICY NOT WORKING: MEHBOOBA
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday was aghast over the killing of three policemen and said that central government’s “muscular policy” was not working in Kashmir.
She said condemnations will bring no solace to the families of the three policemen who were abducted and then killed by suspected militants in Shopian.
“Three more policemen have lost their lives to militant bullets. Outrage, shock & condemnation will be expressed by all of us on expected lines. Unfortunately, it brings no solace to the families of the victims,” Mufti wrote on Twitter.
“Clearly, with the rise in kidnapping of police personnel and their families, Centre’s muscular policy is not working at all. Dialogue, the only way forward, seems to be a distant dream for now,” she said.