SRINAGAR: Contrary to perceptions in some sections of the Union home ministry senior civil and police officials here rule out the holding of the polls in the near future.

Apart from apprehending a mass boycott of the poll process the officials point out that the Center will have to take “some basic corrective measures” to bolster its sagging credibility in the Valley.

“Holding elections in the Valley is as impossible as growing mangoes in Srinagar” sums up a senior IAS officer. “Any talk of holding polls is purely wishful thinking” he said on the condition of anonymity. “The situation is not satisfactory even though the security forces have been notching a few resources” he said. “While the local residents might be getting discouraged with the militants this should not be seen as a sign for holding polls. There is no change in the people’s hearts while alien action reigns supreme. Now is the crucial hour when the Center should strike for durable peace and harmony by viewing the economic and political arrangement” says another senior bureaucrat. “We are holding on by military might with the hope that people will again prefer India. For how long can we afford this?” he asks.

The state of the law and order was amply demonstrated by the fact that the entire valley observed a complete bandh during the Union home minister S.B.Chavan’s recent visit here. After landing at Srinagar airport Chavan preferred to take a chopper to the Raj Bhawan rather than drive on the deserted roads. Bad weather became a convenient excuse to shelve his scheduled program to address a rally at Uri. The bandh-observing residents had reportedly planned to boycott the proposed rally

Security pickets created almost every 30 yards seem to have become a permanent feature in this tourist haven. Every night the security forces and the militants engage in pitched battles In the several graveyards that dot the city the local youth are engaged in digging fresh ground for “new martyrs” And thus the unchecked stalemate continues like an unending vicious circle.

“First and foremost the government has lost its credibility in the Valley. Rather than correcting its past errors it is engaged in promoting rejected entities like Farooq Abdullah. What message is the government trying to send?” asks a moderate political observer while simultaneously pointing out that even if the government announces polls in the Valley very few will dare contest.

“Nobody will vote in case the government decides to hold elections” says H.M.Wanchoo a prominent pandit leader. “This will expose the Center and simultaneously make fun of democracy” he warns adding that the people of the state have lost faith in the Indian democratic system

“As ill luck would have it Pakistan has found in an opportune time to intervene and exploit the situation” he says.

The issue of alleged rigging of the polls in the past is an example that is cited by almost everybody here; from militants to moderates from politicians to intellectuals and from auto rickshaw drivers to the bureaucrats.

“How can the government even suggest elections when it has been rigging them in the past?” asks 19year-old Farooq on auto rickshaw driver who openly admits ferrying weapons for the militants. “You can even write down my address in your newspaper” he says.

“Any talk of elections is wild thinking on the part of the government Not only is it impossible but it has become a non-issue and the people will only see it as a provocation that is bound to further complicate the situation” says Mufti Bahudin Farooqi a retired chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir high court. While expressing anti-India sentiments he regretted that the India had done nothing to win over the people.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1992