Hurriyat Conference, the main separatists group in Jammu and Kashmir has called for a march to Bandipora and Sonawari against the state poll that began on Monday (November 17) for the first phase of the seven-phased assembly elections.
The Muslim separatists have called for boycott to the elections for the new 87-member assembly. But the boycott call didn’t seem to have any impact. Authorities have made stiff security arrangements at all polling stations in the constituencies. Entry points to these two constituencies have been sealed in the wake of any protest by the pro-independent outfits.
Many separatist leaders, including chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, have been put under house arrest for a free and trouble free elections. Also senior Hurriyat leader Zaffar Akbar Bhat was arrested by the authorities on Sunday.
The state which is currently under President’s rule has been marred from the democratic representation process many times in the past amid militant attacks and separatists’ aversion to have a general poll.
Though in the first phase voters’ turnout was very low, authorities look ahead to a better number by the end of the day. The remaining six phases will be held on November 23, 30 and December 7, 13, 17 and 24.
Over 65 lakh voters will cast their vote to elect 10 representatives in one of the most-keenly contested assembly elections. It is also important to watch people’s response after the bitter incident of the Amarnath land row.
The authority have declared more than half of the 1038 polling stations as 'hyper sensitive' while the rest have been placed under 'sensitive' category. As many as 8,000 polling stations have been set up to carry out polling under heavy security.
The separatists, who have rejected the election process, have called for strikes and protests on the elections days to draw the attention of the international community towards the Kashmir issue.
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