Geelani Brotherhood

syed-ali-shah-geelani_7Polling is over but the aftermath has been nightmare for the residents of frontier district Kupwara and the people of Uri.

Elections for Bla Lok Sabha seat concluded at 39.9 % but the major chunk of the votes were cast in Kupwara, Handwara, Karnah, and Uri areas.

As the life resumed in tense North Kashmir day after polling, youth from the towns that witnessed boycott, partly, and tense situation on the day of polling particularly in Baramullah and Sopore were seen stopping, checking, thrashing and stripping off those who voted the other day.

Pertinently, Hurriyat patriarch Syed Ali Geelani and JKLF had called for and launched poll boycott campaigns.

The youth while stopping vehicles coming from Kupwara and Uri beat those whose index fingers were inked. They were thrashed and later stripped. The inked fingers were seen bleeding just after the passengers were beaten.

At least, glasses of around 10 vehicles from Kupwara were smashed by youth. People who had cast vote were thrashed in Bus Stand and Iqbal Market.

Baramullah transport association president claimed that as many as 24 persons were beaten before police chased the youth away.

But, the “vote victims” got support from none other than Syed Ali Geelani. He in a video message appealed the youth not to resort to beating or stripping. He said as the polls are over, Kashmiri nation should not anyway facilitate ‘Indian divide and rule policy designs in Kashmir”. “We all are like brothers of a family so nobody should beat any of his brothers,” Geelani appealed and said, “The election phase is over and we should get united against the military rule of India, so no beating in the name of elections.”

Advantage NC

While the results of just concluded Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir are a week away, principal opposition in state assembly, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been, apparently, declared winner for North Kashmir’s Lok Sabha seat. The news comes from none other than National Conference (NC) partner in the state government, Congress.

It admitted ‘vertical divide in voter share’ in its stronghold Uri in North Kashmir that has gone in favour of opposition PDP candidate Muzaffar Hussain Beigh.

Congress’s minister in Omar Abdullah cabinet, Taj Mohi Ud Din openly accepted that the NC’s vote share got divided and almost 50 percent of NC workers along with a former MLC supported and voted PDP’s Muzaffar Hussain Beigh.

The reason, Taj claimed, is a severe resentment among NC cadres against Sajad Uri son of Mohammad Shafi Uri which according to the congress leader has resulted in the division among NC voters.

He also confessed that many of the Congress workers have also supported PDP candidate.

Meanwhile, NC candidate for the seat Sharif Ud Din Shariq himself confessed that if NC wins that would be very ‘low margin win’. He accused separatists of forcing boycott in the area which Shariq believes would be reason for the ‘low win’. Before the just concluded North Kashmir Lok Sabha polls, Shariq had claimed that Congress, which was supposed to support him, had low voter base in Baramullah but just after the voting was over he accused Congress too of supporting PDP candidate.

It was not only Congress that accepted that the vote share meant for coalition candidate Shariq got diverted to PDP but also incumbent agriculture minister in Omar cabinet, Ghulam  Hassan Mir – one man party in the state government, who claimed that Tangmarg assembly segment too voted  in support of PDP. He said that ‘his people’ have always been against the NC and he could not get them vote for its candidate. Mir had, at the last moment, openly supported NC-Congress candidate at a rally which was addressed by NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders too.

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