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| Innocent killings to keep voters away, new terror tactic in valley | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 24: Finding the ground slipping beneath, so-called separatists have slowly started turning Kashmir into another Pakistan.
If recent events are any indication, 'masked unknown gunmen' have resorted to unprovoked killings to deter people from voting. Whether or not, these have political connection is something which only a detailed probe would unveil but the fact remains that innocents are being killed for the sake of nothing. Those killed include a father of three Mohammed Amin Pandith, a village headman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The 45-year-old was paid 2,000 rupees a month for the job. Pandith was lured from his home at night by a man in army uniform, dragged along a potholed lane and shot in the back of the head. His execution was one of three deadly attacks on village elders in the last week and was blamed on militants determined to derail elections. It spread fear through the hamlet of Gulzarpora and meant that in some areas near here, voter turnout was as low as 2 percent. In a terrorist attack in Shopian in South Kashmir, an election official was killed and five others injured. "People are very afraid," Pandith's brother Abdul Rahim said before the vote. As the national election progress, Kashmir's 1.25 crore people are trying to determine the possible impact of the victory that's being forecast by opinion polls for the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi. The 64-year-old is accused by detractors of not doing enough to stop communal riots in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Gujarat, where he is still chief minister. Modi denies the charges, which have also been rejected by a Supreme Court inquiry. A Gujarat court agreed with the conclusion that there is no evidence that Modi colluded in the violence. The BJP has in the past spoken of the need to abrogate Article 370, a clause in the constitution that grants Jammu and Kashmir a degree of autonomy. Modi has said a debate with all stake-holders is needed on the issue. Talk of a "wave" of support for Modi across India brings a wry smile to the lips of Mehboob Beg, who is seeking re-election in Anantnag on a joint ticket of Congress and National Conference. "The more the wave is in favour of Narendra Modi, the more it will help us," Beg said before addressing a crowd of 3,000 in Kokernag, a township that hosts a large police base. Playing up the secular ideology of Congress and independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru's roots in the region, Beg said: "Congress understands Kashmir better than the BJP and Modi. This is a Muslim-majority state, for God's sake!" |
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