Sham elections: Complete shutdown in occupied Kashmir
Shares
SRINAGAR - In occupied Kashmir, complete shutdown was observed in the areas where second phase of so-called local bodies’ elections was held today.
According to Kashmir Media Service, all shops and other business establishments were closed while traffic was off the road in poll-bound areas of Srinagar and other parts of the valley.
Call for the strike was given by Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik.
Strict restrictions were imposed particularly in Srinagar, Badgam, Islamabad, Kulgam, Bandipora and Kupwara districts to prevent demonstrations against the polls.
Besides personnel attached to four hundred companies of paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, fifty thousand additional troops were deployed for election duty.
Very low turnout was witnessed in polling held for 158 out of 263 wards spread over a dozen districts in Jammu and the Valley.
People’s indifference to the election process can be gauged from the fact that sixty five wards had just one candidate each who returned unopposed, while forty wards had no candidate, at all. Only 1.4 per cent turnout was reported from Srinagar.
In a statement in Srinagar, All Parties Hurriyat Conference said a military operation is underway in the name of elections.
