The Gupkar alliance. | Photo credit: PTI
Srinagar: Former Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and president of the newly formed Peoples’ Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) Farooq Abdullah wrote to state electoral commissioner KK Sharma on Saturday, alleging that the alliance’s candidates are being transferred to ” safe places “and were not allowed to scrutinize before the District Development Council (DDC) elections.
“I take the liberty of writing to you about the upcoming DDC elections. A strange and unique feature has come to the fore. Candidates presented by the PAGD are immediately taken to “safe places” in the name of security and confined to those “safe places”. They are not allowed to poll, they are completely out of touch with those they are supposed to seek votes from, ”he wrote in his letter.
His appeal further stated: “Our parties have been in power in the past and have had the opportunity to lead and lead the government. We are aware of the security challenges in a place beset by violence. These challenges are not new, but they have painfully persisted for the past three decades. But the government had structures that guaranteed the safety of all contenders, regardless of the ideology they defended or the parties they represented.
The letter states that “the current state of affairs in the security arena is blatantly geared toward providing security for a few and confining others.”
“This manifests itself more as an attempt to interfere in the democratic process than as a real concern for the well-being of the contestants. Security cannot and should not be used as a tool or excuse to interfere in democratic processes, ”he said in his letter.
Abdullah, on behalf of the entire Gupkar team, told the electoral commission that it is a desecration of the sacrifices of thousands of political workers at J&K when democratic processes are not followed.
“I can add that the evolution of democracy in J&K is distinctive compared to any other part of the country. The journey is a bloody journey, drenched in the blood of thousands of political workers who have given their lives for the sake of democracy. It is a desecration of those sacrifices when the same conflict that consumed their lives is used as an alibi to personalize democracy ”.
The letter added that democracy is still in a state of fragility in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Governments come and go. No government has the right to alter the institutional foundations of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir fueled by the sacrifices of thousands of political workers. Security is a challenge and it is up to the government of the day to counter that challenge in a fair and transparent manner. Providing security to a select few and literally interning the rest is a great interference in democracy, ”said the head of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference in his letter.
