Abid Bashir
Kupwara, May 20: It was a never seen before sight in Trehgam village of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Monday. The village is native of JKLF founder Muhammad Maqbool Bhat and would always side with the boycott but this time around, people including first time voters, elderly and those who had never voted in the past were seen in queues to exercise their franchise.
For the majority of the visitors to Trehgam, it was a rare sight. The village would wear a deserted look whenever there were polls—Parliamentary or Assembly. Stone pelting, violent clashes between the youth and security forces were routine here, a reason why scores of people including youth continue to have cases against them. A large number of youth from this once a strong separatist bastion, are languishing in jails.
“I am voting for the first time. It’s a fact that this village always boycotted elections. Today, we decided to come out in large numbers to exercise the franchise to see development. We voted for a representative who would take care of us, rake up issues like power, development and seek release of scores of youth who are still languishing in jails,” a voter, who identified himself as Sheikh Salim Pervez, said.
Aijaz Ahmed, a first time voter, standing in a queue to wait for his turn to cast his first vote of life, said in Trehgam area, there are highly qualified youth who are jobless for the reason that this area has earned a “bad name.”
“Ease in our lives is what we youngsters want. There should be equal treatment of Kashmiri youth and the youth of any other state of the country. I believe expressing faith in democratic process will definitely bring something for which I yearn for,” he said. Flanked by his friends, Abrar and Danish, Aijaz said Trehgam has suffered on all fronts and lacks development, youth specific initiatives and above all healing as people of the area have old wounds that need to be healed now.
“It’s not feasible for us to discuss the past. We want to heal our wounds and shape our future. Perhaps, our vote will help us to achieve that. Let Trehgam have quality educational institutions, skill development institutes, training institutes for young boys and girls,” said Saima, 20, a local resident of Trehgam. “We have decided today not to stay away from elections and test our candidate once we vote for him. Today’s young generation is fully capable of making the candidate whom they have voted for, accountable and answerable.”
Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, an elderly voter, said he voted for the first time in his life. “I have never seen long queues here. This is indeed a rare sight. But we have to see how far this election and our participation will take us. Seems, our vote won’t go to waste,” he said. In north Kashmir Lok Sabah seat, a triangular contest was seen between National Conference candidate Omar Abdullah, Peoples Conference head Sajad Lone and incarcerated Awami Itehad Party (AIP) candidate Er Rashid, who contested as an independent. Rashid’s entry made the contest more interesting as his two sons emerged as crowd pullers in the campaigning across the newly aligned Baramulla LS seat.
