Tuesday, November 18, 2008
55 percent voter turnout claimed in frist phase polls
With people coming out to vote Monday in the first phase of the seven-stage polling in Jammu and Kashmir, officials claimed that more than 55 percent electorate exercised their franchise.
Over all voting percentage in the state was recorded more than 55, deputy election commissioner of India R. Bhattacharya told reporters in Delhi. He said that Election Commission of India was ’still collating the data and the figures can go up’ adding that polling in the troubled state was by and large peaceful barring minor skirmishes.
In Srinagar, Chief electoral officer B.R. Sharma said 74 percent of voters polled in Gurez, 44 percent in Bandipora, 42 percent in Sonawari - the three constituencies of Kashmir Valley, where separatists had appealed for a poll boycott.
Speaking to reporters after the polling, which began at 8 AM and closed at 4 PM, Sharma said in Jammu region, Mendhar reported a turnout of 67 percent, Poonch Haveli 64 and Surankote 58. In the cold desert of Ladakh, where temperatures dipped below zero degrees Celsius, 48 percent of voters in Zanskar turned out, 57 percent in Kargil, 55 percent in Nobra and 53 in Leh, he said.
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Over all voting percentage in the state was recorded more than 55, deputy election commissioner of India R. Bhattacharya told reporters in Delhi. He said that Election Commission of India was ’still collating the data and the figures can go up’ adding that polling in the troubled state was by and large peaceful barring minor skirmishes.
In Srinagar, Chief electoral officer B.R. Sharma said 74 percent of voters polled in Gurez, 44 percent in Bandipora, 42 percent in Sonawari - the three constituencies of Kashmir Valley, where separatists had appealed for a poll boycott.
Speaking to reporters after the polling, which began at 8 AM and closed at 4 PM, Sharma said in Jammu region, Mendhar reported a turnout of 67 percent, Poonch Haveli 64 and Surankote 58. In the cold desert of Ladakh, where temperatures dipped below zero degrees Celsius, 48 percent of voters in Zanskar turned out, 57 percent in Kargil, 55 percent in Nobra and 53 in Leh, he said.
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Labels: Bandipora, Delhi, Election Commission of India, frist phase polls, Jammu and Kashmir, poll boycott, Sonawari, three constituencies of Kashmir Valley, voters polled in Gurez, voting percentage
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Maharashtra Sadan attacked in Delhi
Attacks against north Indians in Maharashtra echoed in the national capital today when around 25 people indulged in violence in Maharashtra Sadan demanding immediate arrest of MNS chief Raj Thackeray.
Shouting slogans like “Marathis Go Back”, the alleged activists of Rashtravadi Shiv Sena broke flower pots, glass doors and window panes of the Maharashtra Sadan at around 12:30 pm.
Fooling security guards by entering the building in small groups, the attackers suddenly started damaging the property near the reception counter.
The protestors also raised slogans against Maharashtra government and Thackeray.
“They came inside the building in small groups. Nobody has any clue. They suddenly started shouting slogans and indulged in violence,” Pramod Kolate, an official of the Sadan who was at the reception, said.
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Shouting slogans like “Marathis Go Back”, the alleged activists of Rashtravadi Shiv Sena broke flower pots, glass doors and window panes of the Maharashtra Sadan at around 12:30 pm.
Fooling security guards by entering the building in small groups, the attackers suddenly started damaging the property near the reception counter.
The protestors also raised slogans against Maharashtra government and Thackeray.
“They came inside the building in small groups. Nobody has any clue. They suddenly started shouting slogans and indulged in violence,” Pramod Kolate, an official of the Sadan who was at the reception, said.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit:
http://epaper.kashmirtimes.com/KT/KT/2008/11/04/index.shtml
Labels: attacked, Delhi, Maharashtra Sadan, MNS, Raj Thackeray, Rashtravadi Shiv Sena, security guards, slogans, violence
Monday, September 15, 2008
Mainstream politics gasping for breath
Trapped between political disconnect between Delhi and Srinagar on the one hand and suffocating home ground-hostility on the other, mainstream political parties in Kashmir Valley are getting squeezed into a tight corner. The ‘nationalist’ portion of their agenda is already a casualty in the face of a radical shift in the local discourse. The setting is such that even mere talk of (assembly) elections sounds grossly incongruent, if not blasphemous. One has yet to find anyone willing to stand up and be counted unambiguously. It has never been so hazardous for them; not even in the run-up to the 1996 polls when militancy was at its peak. Obviously, collective sense of emotional hurt, fuelled by brazenly militaristic response to largely peaceful upsurge of protest, is politically more lethal than the fear of gun. Mainstream politics has been totally immobilised along with its ideological agenda although every Tom, Dick and Harry in that category is protected by hordes of state-provided gun-men. ‘Protected’ species is feeling like the most endangered species. Main reason being that Delhi’s inexplicable non-political attitude, smeared by perceived sectarian double standard in dealing with identical situations, is catalysing an overpowering social cohesion that is incompatible with mainstream politics.
Confused—and confusing—utterances of some of the mainstream ‘stars’ relating to topical issues, as also their body language, is quite revealing. It depicts the trajectory of conversion from an ‘Indian-Kashmiri’ to ‘Kashmiri Indian’ and down to ‘Kashmiri’. Though vastly different in size, reach and stature, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, two main propellers of the mainstream politics in the Valley, more or less equally symbolise the predicament of surviving a hostile homeground.
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Confused—and confusing—utterances of some of the mainstream ‘stars’ relating to topical issues, as also their body language, is quite revealing. It depicts the trajectory of conversion from an ‘Indian-Kashmiri’ to ‘Kashmiri Indian’ and down to ‘Kashmiri’. Though vastly different in size, reach and stature, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, two main propellers of the mainstream politics in the Valley, more or less equally symbolise the predicament of surviving a hostile homeground.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.kashmirtimes.com
Labels: casualty, Delhi, elections, Kashmir Valley, mainstream, non political attitude, Political, srinagar
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Malik threatens hunger strike
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik has threatened to go on hunger strike if the land transfer to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) is not cancelled with an immediate effect. While addressing media persons here after his return from 22-days visit to Pakistan, Malik appealed to the Jammuites to rise to the occasion and corner communal forces.
"It is a litmus test for Jammuites to either stand by us or get carried away by the communal propaganda spread by forces who are hell-bent to destroy our secular ethos," Malik said. The JKLF chairman said that the Front supports the joint committee of trade union leaders, lawyers, representatives of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), traders association, transporters and prominent members of the civil society against land transfer.
Malik said that if the agitation launched by the committee failed to deliver, he would go far fast unto death. Malik is scheduled to visit Delhi in a few days to discuss the land transfer issue with civil society, intellectuals and policy makers.
Taking a dig at general secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Praveen Togadia's remarks about Kashmir, Malik said that Togadia and Bal Thackrey are ‘cowards'. "They address media persons in bolted rooms. They should keep in mind that Kashmiris have sacrificed their lives and cannot be derailed from their cause by mere bullying," Malik said.
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"It is a litmus test for Jammuites to either stand by us or get carried away by the communal propaganda spread by forces who are hell-bent to destroy our secular ethos," Malik said. The JKLF chairman said that the Front supports the joint committee of trade union leaders, lawyers, representatives of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), traders association, transporters and prominent members of the civil society against land transfer.
Malik said that if the agitation launched by the committee failed to deliver, he would go far fast unto death. Malik is scheduled to visit Delhi in a few days to discuss the land transfer issue with civil society, intellectuals and policy makers.
Taking a dig at general secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Praveen Togadia's remarks about Kashmir, Malik said that Togadia and Bal Thackrey are ‘cowards'. "They address media persons in bolted rooms. They should keep in mind that Kashmiris have sacrificed their lives and cannot be derailed from their cause by mere bullying," Malik said.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.kashmirtimes.com
Labels: Delhi, hunger strike, Jammu and Kashmir, jklf, KCCI, media, Mohammad Yasin Malik, SASB, threatened, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
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