Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference (NC) candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission (EC) about the alleged police crackdown and pointed out “police summoning and detention of hundreds of their workers” in the past 24 hours in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, where polls will be held on May 13.
“The State administration, under the control of the Union government, is shamelessly engaged in activities aimed at intimidating voters and supporters of the PDP. I am deeply troubled by reports of security agencies conducting raids and harassing PDP workers in Pulwama and Shopian districts,” Ms. Mufti said, in the letter addressed to the EC.
She said the situation had escalated to a point where the security establishment was “instilling a climate of fear in areas slated for elections on May 13”. “This appears to be a direct result of public threats made by J&K Apni Party, which has openly called for the arrest of PDP supporters. It is distressing to witness history repeating itself, reminiscent of the 1987 rigged elections that caused immense suffering and political disillusionment in the region,” Ms. Mufti said.
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PM’s intervention sought
PDP candidate Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra claimed over 50 of his workers were summoned and detained in the past 24 hours. “In the past, Kashmir has experienced boycotts at the behest of separatists. Today, we’re witnessing a similar scenario, with an IPS officer of ADGP rank, Vijay Kumar, allegedly directing officials to minimise voter turnout by detaining, harassing our workers. Such actions serve the interests of anti-national elements, not India,” Mr. Parra said.
He has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “We’re reaching out to the EC to urgently address and relocate the official from his sensitive position,” Mr. Parra said.
The NC has made similar allegations. “We have written to the EC. Over 100 workers have been summoned and many were detained. The police are under the direct control of the Union Home Ministry. There is an attempt to bring down voter turnout to tilt election results in favour of proxies. People will respond to it tomorrow [on May 13],” NC candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah said.
He appealed for immediate release of workers “held without justification”. “I also want immediate release of our workers and those of PDP if the reports of their arrests are also correct,” Mr. Mehdi said.
Mr. Mehdi also asked the J&K Apni party to share the list of their workers who were detained to the EC.
Mir’s charge
J&K Apni Party general secretary Rafi Ahmad Mir also claimed harassment of the workers. “The police have arrested a large number of the party workers in various areas in Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama, and Shopian. These arrests seemingly have been made at the behest of parties like NC and PDP, who are cronies of the powers in New Delhi,” Mr. Mir said in a statement.
He threatened to boycott the elections if “the democratic process is not free and fair”. “The arrest of party workers mere hours before the polls suggests a blatant attempt to manipulate and rig the elections. We will not tolerate this injustice, and boycott the polls,” Mr. Mir said.
The polling for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, comprising areas from five districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Shopian, Pulwama and Ganderbal, is on May 13. Twenty-six candidates are in the fray.
The current situation of mistrust has come to the fore in spite of a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla in Jammu and Srinagar earlier this week “to maintain peace ahead of the polls and on the day of polling”.
An official said Mr. Bhalla reviewed the security scenario of the Kashmir Valley and assessed the inputs provided by top officials of several security wings in the Valley.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Director General of Police R.R. Swain, Additional DGP (Law and Order) Mr. Vijay Kumar and Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, V.K. Bidhuri attended these meetings.
Around 635 additional companies of paramilitary forces have been deputed to Jammu and Kashmir for the peaceful conduct of the Parliament elections. The elections in two seats of Jammu and Udhampur have been held peacefully earlier.
Reacting to the accusations, a police spokesman said, “Statements and speculations of political parties suggesting that police have been harassing their party workers in different ways at the behest of the other is without basis. The Jammu and Kashmir police are committed to enforcing the law and the MCC guidelines pertaining to security in furtherance of free and fair elections. There have been actions regardless of party affiliation pertaining to violations such as seizure of cash, narcotics, liquor and preventive actions against miscreants and potential offenders with a background of linkages to terrorism and separatism.”
