Kashmiris clash with troops on last day of poll: Turnout below 16pc: Mirwaiz
At least 20 people were injured in the violence between the Indian forces and anti-poll demonstrators in Srinagar, where voter turnout was low in line with a boycott call by Kashmiri leaders.
“Srinagar recorded 20 per cent voter turnout,” chief electoral officer B. R. Sharma told journalists.
At the last state elections fewer than 10 per cent voters went to the polls, he said, describing Wednesday’s polling as “by and large peaceful”.
Around 30,000 troops were deployed on the streets of the city, which has long been the hub of a 20-year freedom movement against Indian occupation in the Muslim-majority Kashmir.
Another 20,000 soldiers patrolled the districts of Jammu and Samba, where balloting was also taking place.
“I fail to understand if the Indians are holding elections or going to war,” complained Srinagar resident Mohammed Hafiz, 60.
Indian occupied Kashmir has been under federal rule since July following the collapse of the state government over a land row that triggered a revival of anti-India demonstrations.
“We are for freedom from India. We will never take part in Indian-held elections,” said engineering graduate Idrees Shangloo, one of many who stayed away from the polling booths.
Mehraj-u-Din, who did cast his ballot in Srinagar, said he was motivated by local issues.
“I have voted for a candidate who can develop our area,” he said.
The elections come at the end of a year in which huge pro-independence demonstrations in occupied Kashmir left more than 50 Muslim protesters dead, many killed when government troops fired to disperse protesters.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Srinagar, where authorities have imposed strict security clampdowns and curfews since the protests began.
Scattered anti-election protests were held overnight and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and his politician son Umar Abdullah escaped unhurt when protesters pelted their motorcade with stones, police said.
Shops and business were shut and the streets were empty, even after voting ended.
MIRWAIZ: Meanwhile, talking to DawnNews on Wednesday, APHC chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq said that the so-called elections were merely an administrative exercise which would have no bearing on the political future of Kashmir.
He said that entire Srinagar had been turned into an army garrison during the election drama, adding that 60,000 additional troops had been deployed in every nook and corner of the city.
Even then, he said, people managed to hold peaceful rallies and demonstrations against the election exercise.
Referring to the participation of people in the polls, he said the voter turnout was much lower than the 16 per cent as claimed by the Indian authorities.—Agencies