The Hindu : Enthusiastic response in Kupwara, Handwara

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2002

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Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

Enthusiastic response in Kupwara, Handwara

By Shujaat Bukhari

KUPWARA/ HANDWARA SEPT. 16. It was a real turn-around in the situation when people in long queues outside the polling booths in Handwara and Kupwara towns had no complaints of coercion and had no fear writ on their faces.

Kupwara assumed importance after the elections were announced on August 2, with large number of persons turning out for the election rallies. This district saw the killing of an Independent candidate, Abdur Rehman Sheikh, and the Law Minister, Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, by militants. But the enthusiasm which marked the beginning of the electoral process has not disappeared.

Handwara had been the stronghold of the slain Hurriyat leader, Abdul Gani Lone, for years. But with the rise of militancy in the 1990s, his vote bank was disturbed and a senior National Conference Minister, Chowdary Mohammad Ramzan, was returned to the Assembly in 1996 without much resistance. After Lone's killing, developments took a new turn with one of his associates, Mohiuddin Sofi, jumping into the fray. He turned out to be a rebel not only in Lone's People's Conference (PC) but also the Hurriyat Conference which is boycotting the elections. The widely-held belief is that he and his two former associates are the proxy candidates of the PC, which its chairman, Sajjad Lone, denies.

Handwara, no doubt obliged the Hurriyat by observing a complete strike, but the long queues of voters indicated a changed situation. "Nobody has forced us to come for vote,'' said Mohammad Amin. "We are here by choice and want to show the world that we believe in democracy." The Hurriyat's politics has failed the Kashmiris, says Younus, a student, who adds, "we should have thrown the ball in New Delhi's court by defeating all the Indian agents.''

Interestingly women had come in large numbers to vote.

In Kupwara and adjoining Trehgam, the scene was no different. Here also a former Minister, Ghulam Qadir Mir, is believed to have the support of the PC. And he has been giving restless nights to his contender, Saifullah Mir of the National Conference, who is a sitting MLA. Known as the "gateway to militancy'', this was like any other town where voters huddled together to vote. "No coercion," cried a voter on seeing the journalists. "We are here to change our fate,'' his associate said. A militancy-infested area, Kupwara recorded 40 per cent polling.

The turnout in Trehgam, seven km from Kupwara, is more interesting. It is where the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front founder, Maqbool Bhat, was born and where the armed struggle began. Strong processions for `azadi' were also seen pouring in from here. Bhat was hanged to death in the Tihar jail in 1984 after an Indian diplomat, Ravindra Mahtre, was killed in London.

"I am voting for Lone's grave. He is a martyr and we want the NC to go,'' said a voter whose views were echoed by many others. "We have not surrendered as far as the freedom struggle is concerned but to make our lives better is also important,'' said another.

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