The Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference (JKANC) on Monday charged the Centre and the Election Commission (EC) with colluding with each other to hold the five-phased assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir during the 'mourning' period of Muharram in the wintry months of November and December.
Interacting with media at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) in the national capital this evening, an agitated and concerned JKANC Vice President Muzzafar Shah said that his party has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court against the Central and Jammu and Kashmir Governments, and the Election Commission, seeking a quashing of the already announced election schedule till the rehabilitation process is completed in the flood-ravaged northern state.
Shah was emphatic in saying that the timing of the proposed polls was inappropriate and questionable, given the situation existing in the aftermath of unprecedented floods.
Criticizing the EC for maintaining that it had met all stakeholders before deciding on the poll dates, Shah said the "stakeholders were not the politicians of the state and the Centre, but the helpless and hapless people of the state, who are still trying to come to terms with the wreckage caused by the floods."
He said it was all the more sad that the EC and the governments in question had ignored the fact that Muslim-dominant Jammu and Kashmir would be observing Muharram during the peak time of the polls, and therefore, how could these three entities expect people to come out and vote when they were facing both hardship and were in mourning.
He made a specific mention of December 14, when people in 17 assembly constituencies (13 in the Kashmir Valley and four in Jammu) would be exercising their franchise. This day, he said, was the Day of Chehlem (the 40th and most significant day of mourning).
Mentioning statistics, he said six lakh people were displaced and dislocated in Srinagar city alone, and their whereabouts for the purpose of casting votes was not available.
He further stated that government statistics have revealed that three lakh structures are in a damaged state, 12 lakh families have been affected by the floods, over three lakh residential structures are fully damaged and 32 lakh villagers have been affected.
People, he said, are still fighting for food, drinking water, medicines and shelter, and added that the EC should have met these traumatized and stressed people to get their views before deciding on the poll dates.
He described it as bizarre that the EC had decided on the election dates after only spending a day in the state, and suggested that the latter was not at all aware of the ground realities, and was in a tearing hurry to announce the poll schedule.
Shah said that a petition had been filled before the EC on October 29 and with the Supreme Court on November 1. He said that he expected the apex court to give a fair hearing and judgement to his party's writ petition either on Wednesday or Friday.
He said that the JKANC is also demanding a postponement of the elections by at least four months because of the onset of a harsh winter that the region experiences every year around this time.
