EC held bypolls against state govt’s advice, says Mehbooba
Says Kashmir ‘back to square one’, will take time to improve
Chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday regretted the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to go ahead with Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha bypolls. She said that during her consultations with the ECI, she had appraised it of the ground situation.
Speaking at an event in Jammu, Mehbooba said that she had cautioned the ECI on conducting Lok Sabha bypolls. However, the apex election body in its own wisdom went ahead to conduct the bypoll, she said.
“What we feared has happened. Situation (in Kashmir) has turned hostile, but they (ECI) didn’t listen. I had cautioned them during our discussions that situation is not conducive to hold elections. We told them that wounds are raw (post Hizbul militant Burhan Wani’s killing in July last year) and people are not mentally prepared,” she said.
She added that her fears have turned true and that the situation in Kashmir is “back to square one”.
“Now, it will take time. When situation in Kashmir turns bad, it impacts developmental works in Jammu and Ladakh regions too. But I thank the people of Jammu for maintaining peace and normalcy,” she added.
She also asserted that since 2008, no one bothered to address the grievances of the Kashmiri youth. “Ladke pathar marte rahe. Unka koi ilaaj hua hi nahi aur andar hi andar lava ban gaya. (The youth kept throwing stones. None bothered to resolve their grievance and their frustration has now turned into a lava)”, she said.
Eight people died and many were injured on Sunday when Srinagar parliamentary seat went to polls, recording a mere 7.14% turnout.
Similarly, on Thursday, when re-poll was conducted in 38 polling booths which saw widespread violence on Sunday, the turnout was just 2%.
Taking a dig at former chief minister Farooq Abdullah’s charge on the PDP-BJP government of funding stonepelters, Mehbooba said he is a “confused man”. Her deputy Nirmal Kumar Singh also accused Farooq of playing “politics of deception”.
“He speaks in different tone and tenor… gives different statements in Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu. He called stonepelters nationalists and now says that the government is paying them money. It is highly condemnable,” Singh said.
FIR REGISTERED IN CRPF VIDEOS CASE, SOME ARRESTED: DY CM
Meanwhile, J&K deputy CM Nirmal Singh said an First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged in the case where a mob was seen abusing and manhandling CRPF jawans returning from poll duty. He added that some accused have already been held.