Kishtwar’s communal clashes….

Kishtwar-The mountainous town of Jammu division is burning in violence. Officially two people-Arvind Kumar and Bashir ahmed sheikh have been declared dead. Hundreds have been reportedly injured in these communal clashes. Allegations and recriminations are being hurled by the mainstream political parties and the Pakistan-sponsored separatists on each other as well on Nationalist -Indian –political- parties.

I remember it vividly how my Muslim friends were galvanized to revolt against their own brethren on the name of Jihad. A Muslim friend who had later on became a terrorist had once confessed to me that He was told by his seniors that all the Kashmiri Pandits have magazines in their Houses and the pundits have acquired huge arms and ammunition, which they will eventually use to kill the Muslims .
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In 1989-90, The mosques across the Kashmir valley were ranting against India. The loudspeakers in shrilled tones were inciting the Muslim mobs to act against India and Hindus. The houses of Kashmiri Pandits were stoned. Kashmiri Pandits were killed selectively that finally led to the mass-exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.

Using the mosques as a base to incite the mobs was successfully carried out in Kashmir to cleanse the ethnic minorities. Usually the Maulvi acted as a Bellwether.Same strategy is/was used to flare up the communal conflagration in Kishtwar too. First it was at Gool, when a Maulvi incited a mob to attack the BSF Camp. Now it is Kishtwar. This time on the eve of Eid, the Muslim-fundamentalists aroused the feelings of Muslims to attack the minorities and burn down their shops and properties.

The role of Minister of state for Home-Sajjad Kitchloo is also under the lens. It has been alleged that he turned a blind eye on the whole incident, in spite of being present in Kishtwar on the eve of Eid. The minorities also blame him for masterminding the whole act. The policy of using the minorities as scapegoats has in the past given desired result to the Ruling political party. The policy has been in vogue since last many decades. National conference has many-a-times used the support of Religion to garner some more votes. In the past they had even approached the Muslim-voters with a book of Holy Quran, just to show themselves as core-religionists. The tweets by J&k chief minister is yet another proof of polarization based on Religion. When leader of opposition Smt. Sushma swaraj asked J&K C.M about the Kishtwar communal clashes, Omar responded divisively. The content is reproduced below:
Twitter user with the handle @A_Ashish14 tweeted to the BJP leader alleging atrocities during clashes in the eastern side of Kashmir. The following exchange ensued:
@SushmaSwarajbjp (03:16 pm): @abdullah_omar This requires immediate attention. @A_Ashish14
@SushmaSwarajbjp (03:35 pm): I have checked up from Kishtwar. Many injured. Houses and shops burnt. Pl do something immediately. @abdullah_omar
@abdullah_omar (03:38 pm): @SushmaSwarajbjp injuries & damage has taken place on both sides. Situation is being rapidly brought under control. Adequate forces sent.
@SushmaSwarajbjp (03:45 pm): @abdullah_omar I am not referring to any side. Every person injured there is a Hindustani.
@abdullah_omar (03:46): @SushmaSwarajbjp exactly my point. But the lies on …Kishtwar are designed to inflame passions & polarize people
With such people at the helm, these incidents are bound to happen again and again.

The minorities of J&K are not safe at all. The two mainstream political parties have failed to give a sense of security to the Hindus of J&k. Omar Abdullah who was a critic of the armed forces was all praises for them after the communal clashes of Kishtwar .It was the armed forces that swiftly controlled the violence in Kishtwar.JK police yet again failed to deliver .

Even today the situation is not totally under control and 8 towns of jammu are under curfew. The internet has been snapped in Jammu fearing it may fuel up more tension(or to conceal the truth and causalities of the Hindu minorities of Kishtwar)

Kashmiri separatists are also cashing on the Kishtwar communal clashes. Syed Ali shah Geelani had been advocating for long to disband the VDC. He and his coterie want the minorities of Kishtwar to be hapless and helpless. They want to repeat the sadist approach of violent deaths in Kishtwar, after their success in Kashmir-that forced the indigenous community of Kashmiri Pandits to leave their Hearths and Homes.They want to repeat Kashmir in Doda,Kishtwar and Bhaderwah.

KP’s were sitting ducks with no arms to defend themselves against the Pakistan-backed armed terrorists. Had KP’s been also provided arms and ammunition like the VDC’s, the situation would have been different. The step taken to arm a group of Indians in Kishtwar to defend honor and lives is applaudable.

I dare all the separatists to give a call to Pakistani to disarm the terrorists. Show us all that they genuinely believe in peace.How come, not a single call has been given by the separatists to the armed -youth known as militants, to follow peace, and give-up guns and violent ways. The dichotomous policy followed by separatists speaks their devious intentions in volumes.

An Open Letter to Mr.Omar Abdullah

To
The Honorable Chief Minister of J&k
Mr.Omar Abdullah
Respected Sir,
My name is Sandeep Kaul.I used to live in the valley before terrorism and armed militancy wrapped its Blanket on whole of the valley. The sufferings of my community in exile is well known to you. During the last 23 years, the valley of Kashmir witnessed many ups and downs. Violence, terrorism, bloodshed and what not!

Though the peace of the yore is still far, but it is gradually limping back into the hearts of people of Kashmir. I pray to almighty to restore the lost glory back to Kashmir and I pray for the prosperity of my motherland.

I and many of my likes welcome your announcement wherein you have wished to designate the summer capital to Jammu and winter Capital to Kashmir. I think this should had been done years back. Better late than never. The people of Jammu will feel some relief from the horrid summers as will the people of Kashmir who have to face the bone freezing cold.

I admire the way you handled the summer unrest of 2010 ,It must had been very tough to tackle the situation, But I must confess you thwarted the attempts of anti-nationals adroitly. The Job packages for Kashmiri Pandits was equally applaudable ,though it may not reverse the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. I also appreciate your efforts in recommending the center to raise the dole of Kashmiri Pandits from 5k Rupees to 10k rupees.

Sir, however there are a couple of points which need your immediate attention.

1.The process for getting a state-subject of J&k has become more cumbersome. I was told to submit at least 12 different documents for getting my state subject, including revenue record of my land in Kashmir as well as the voter list of 1988.I believe these steps to be deterrent in getting a State subject. I have been deprived by these draconian steps to call myself a legal subject of state. Empirically, believing the govt. machinery against me and my likes won’t be a misnomer.

May I request you to simplify this process.

2.Recently , it has been notified that Aadhar card is a must for any financial transaction including getting the monthly relief of Kashmiri Migrants. Though it might be a good decision but I beg to differ here being as a Kashmiri Pandit Refugee.

I and my likes still in the heart of our hearts feel the only Home for us is in Kashmir. Unfortunately, either our homes have been occupied illegally in Kashmir or we had been forced to sell our homes at throwaway prices under duress. Though there are some depilated vacant houses also. In either case, we are bereft to call our homes as our own.

I have a serious doubt that in the grab of Aadhar card, I may be permanently labeled as a non-state subject, I may be called as a Delihite, U.P Wallah,Haryanvi but a Kashmiri. I doubt in the grab of Aadhar card the journey to my motherland will not see its day.

May I request you to let all the displaced Kashmiri Pandits use their respective Kashmir addresses(prior to 1990) and thereby help them preserve their last identity in Kashmir or else exempt all the Kashmiri Pandits from using/recognizing Aadhar card as their residence of proof.

Your’s sincerely
Sandeep Kaul

omar,Anna Hazare and KP’s

Anna Hazare did it again! Once again he was able to galvanize people from all walks of life, he was able to merge their voices into one voice-voice of India- His non-voilent way of protesting against Sarkari Lok pal Bill proved to be too much for the Government and the “sarkar” yielded to the sentiments of the People .As Anna Said,”This is not the full victory but Half victory”, full victory will only be achieved once the government clears the bill proposed by the civil society or should I say “Anna Hazare”. For two weeks people from all walks of life supported Anna, I saw common man coming to streets in villages, towns as well as in cities, The “anna Effect” was seen everywhere, with many scholars terming this movement as an epoch for young India. It was a very disciplined movement and everyone irrespective of their caste, creed or religion participated, no one was disparaged at least on the basis of their caste or religion.

Not too far away in Kashmir, politicians and religious leaders were keeping an watch on this whole movement and thinking hard to use the present “Anna Effect” for their use. Chief minister of J&k  tweeted on Anna in a very diplomatic way, But things changed a bit when High court of Tamil Nadu stayed the execution of three convicts  for killing late Mr. Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991.Mr. Omar Abdullah tweeted “If J&K Assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not,” There was lot of hue and cry especially from BJP, Who have strongly advocated that the death sentence of Afzal guru should be carried out as soon as possible.

Afzal Guru was incriminated in Parliament attack ( 2001) and was sentenced to death by both high court as well as supreme court of India. The majority of Kashmiri muslims have a soft corner for Afzal Guru and his execution or saving his life will have a huge effect on the vote bank of Jammu and Kashmir. The question remains “ will Afzal Guru be hanged? Ever?”.I think “NO”….Never, Not even if BJP comes to power.

Afzal guru is a “hot potato” and no politician will open this Pandora box. During last 9-10 years he has become a hot political point both with the ruling party as well as the opposition. The ruling party seems to have given a tacit approval for delaying his death sentence whereas the opposition have raised his issue several times vociferously.

Another Omar- the Maulvi, in the eid celebration gathering has emphatically urged “Anna” to lend his support for the alleged “mass graves” of Kashmir.!Is it possible that behind the curtains, Arundhati roy may have played the role of pedagogue to sepratist think tank and thus  the  political appeal to Anna Hazare by Maulvi Omar!It is a known fact that she supports the separatist movement of Kashmir . She has not digested the huge following of masses for Anna  and  thus alleged that Anna movement was run by the RSS and the media. God save the world from megalomaniacs!!!  the role of another “judas” Swami Agnivesh(fraud swamy) also can not be ruled out in this whole episode ,as he is also a known supporter of the Kashmiri separatists .I have heard the he has slipped quietly into “vipassana ” , well,it may be an excuse after all that happened which exposed him as a “black sheep”, good for him to introspect…

Are there any mass graves in Kashmir? I don’t know but if there are any such graves, it should come in the notice of general public. Let truth prevail. …..by the way,Some of the leaders like Sajjad lone, and Maulvi Omar faroq have in the past directly or indirectly accused the separatists for killing their Father while as Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat accused the separists of killing his Brother.What keeps these bigot leaders away from raising their voices and getting justice from the law, when they know who killed their father and brother! Has the prospect of coming to power politically, choked their voice of truth and their conscience..

The forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their motherland by these separatist leaders is a stark reality for me, I was a witness to one of the most shameful acts by these demagogues. The house where I was born , the house where I spent my childhood, That house was snatched from me .Those temples where I  genuflected and prayed to god are in ruins now, the schools run by Pandits were burnt by these so called freedom fighters, But no body stood by me because I was a Kashmiri Pandit.

The initial years after I became a refugee in my own country, were worse, I was a witness to the misery of my brethren, I was a witness to the old generation’s yearn to see their motherland at least once, I was a witness to Shame on being a Kashmiri Pandit,I was the witness of that frustration and helplessness of the youth,I was also the witness of Government apathy towards my community for leaving away Kashmir and not saying “Pakistan Zindabad”

Now after more than 21 years in exile, Kashmiri Pandit has learned to live without physically being in Kashmir, But that does not mean they have altogether forgotten Kashmir,  the return may take another deacde or even decades , but the terms and conditions for return will be my own .By given jobs to Kashmiri Pandits the government of J&k is  confusing the government at the center ,as this will not facilitate their permanent return to Kashmir.The government at the state and the centre need to retrace that path through which a KP fled Kashmir. It should be noted that not a single Kp left Kashmir because of lack of government jobs for them, The mass exodus of Pandits had nothing to do with jobs, Their exodus was the result of Target killing of Pandits by the so called Islami Jihadis ,and JKLF tops the list of that terrorist organization which hunted down the pundits for the sheer pleasure. Give Kashmiri pundits Justice first!

Call to  “Anna” ,by the anti-India separatist  leader,  to unearth the so called mass graves in Kashmir is a way to grab the attention of the nation as well as media.some of these so called leaders even claimed that two lakh kashmiri people got killed, and others exaggerated on the number of women raped by the armed forces,But these separatists have alwaysremained mute spectators, when  people were killed by militants or when women were raped by militants.This cunning duplicity is a blot on the character of these so called leaders, in fact calling such people leaders is  a misnomer.These people who yearn and live to see the Balkanisation of India need to introspect -especially those who are responsible for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.Let them first muster the courage to fight against their own who are responsible for the death of their kith and Kin….

but above all let truth prevail…..

Political empowerment of Kashmiri Pandits!!!!

Some years back, I along with a group of Kashmiri Pandits  got a chance to meet one of the top most politician (name withheld) of J&k and spent good two hours discussing Kashmir and its people. The politician looked keen to involve Kashmiri Pandits in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. At that time the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir was Mr. Mufti Mohammed sayeed and his government had initiated and build condominiums for the migrant Kashmiri Pandits at Budgam. The senior politician candidly told us that there is a section of Kashmiri Muslims who is opposing the return of Pandits vitriolically as they have illegally captured the properties of Kashmiri Pandits .This politician also told us about the incapability of arresting the culprits by the administration as that can turn into a political Blunder. At that time,T.V and print media were also aggressively promoting the new found bonhomie between the two communities of Kashmir and many pundits even showed interest to go back to Kashmir and live in those flats.

PDP was signaling and conveying through different modes to Pandits to come back to Kashmir as they claimed that normalcy has returned to Kashmir, The other political heavyweight Mr. Faroq Abdullah in the meantime visited Kashmiri Pandits at Misriwala Camp, jammu and warned them not to return to Kashmir as Things were not congenial for the return of Pandits to valley. But sure That time around 2007 things looked more normal ….

During that time ,A KP friend of mine even bought a piece of land in Kashmir and was interested in building a new house, but it proved to be a Bubble waiting to be busted as after a year or two the Amarnath Land row agitation unveiled the curtains of hatred and showed the ugly facet of religious intolerance and rift- which was already present somewhere between Hindus and Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir. The spoilsport was played by Syed ali shah Geelani, a known xenophobiac , who played the role of a Demagogue and claimed that India is Building a colony in Baltal and told his followers that very soon by these tactics the Majority population will be Marginalized by Indian population, PDP also did not left any stone unturned and tacitly and sometimes openly supported Geelani and company.

Then came the Jammu and Kashmir elections and people of Jammu and Kashmir come out in Large numbers for voting which culminated in Mr.Omar Abdullah becoming the youngest Chief Minister of J&k. Many KP’s also tried their luck and jumped into the fray of electoral battle but all had to bite the dust. Not a Single KP won and not only that ,most the KP’s who had contested elections lost their security deposits, Even the traditional Habba Kadal seat was also lost which was otherwise considered to be a KP stronghold.

Now after a long Gap, the politics of Kashmir saw two new K.P entrants, a 52 year old housewife Ashajee, a Kashmiri Pandit , who was elected a Panch from Wussan village in Baramullah, and last week another Kashmiri Pandit ,Shri Makhan lal Zutshi was also elected Panch and that too unopposed from village Tahab,Pulwama. Their victory made Headlines in many newspapers and many congratulated them including me. But their victory also unfolded the untold story of political alienation which the KP’s have been facing since long.one of the reasons for exodus of Kashmiri Pandits was Political marginalization since KP’s do not have any political power in Jand K. lack of political will by the leading political parties of J&K was another reason for not taking any appropriate steps to bring back KP’s in the political fold at least since last two decades .

There are 4130 Sarpanchs(Kashmir-2164, Jammu-1966) 29719 Panchs(Kashmir-15959,Jammu-13760) number of Block Panchayats-143(Kashmir-77, Jammu-66) and 22 District Panchayats. Out of the given figure above two Kashmiri Pandits made it and became Panchs!!! What is this news conveying ? Is it the dawn of the political rebirth of Pandits or the Remnants of political decadence?

2 out of 29719 comes to 0.006%, Is this an achievement or shame!!! I will definitely term it as a big shame,a joke on the part of democracy…It is believed that the population of Kashmiri Pandits is no less than 7 Lakhs !!! though ,no survey has been done regarding the exact population of KP’s since many decades ,However there is a statistics(old) with JK government, but that is questionable and hence not authentic.

it has been reported by a section of Kashmiri Muslims who were architects of the exodus of K.P’s that there has been no Genocide of K.P’s, no one ousted K.P’s from Kashmir, Only Indian Army looted the houses of Kashmiri Pandits who left for safer places, No one destroyed the temples of Hindus of Kashmir but nobody can explain how and why the temples were broken!!!, Kashmiri pundits were lured by Jagmohan to leave Kashmir and leave their palatial Bunglows and Multi-crore properties only to live in tattered camps and get mindboggling Rs 800/family as assistance!!!

Coming back to panchayti elections, a Political section wants to project the news of KP’s winning panchayti elections as news which reflects political empowerment of K.P’s, But that is not. Elsewhere in India, becoming a panch or even a sarpanch does not make any ripples, but we are talking about Kashmir, that Kashmir which had a population of one million K.P’s in early twenth century and today not even 4000 are left , That is why two KP’s becoming Panchs have made Headlines…..But on the other side their victory has also stated without a word the general condition of Pandits and their story of last 21 years……

scapegoats,stone pelters, and Omar Abdullah

Another year in exile for Indigenous inhabitants of Kashmir. For the sake of statstics, This is my 21st year in Exile.There is a mixed response when Kashmir is discussed among Kashmiri Pandits.” I would like to live the rest of my life in Kashmir” says a relative of mine who is a septuagenarian. On the other hand, a teenager son of a friend of mine, who was born and raised in Delhi says, ”I will settle abroad, once I finish my studies”. I guess, this is what is known as generation Gap.

Thanks to Pakistan sponsored terrorism, which they have successfully painted with the color of “Holy Jihad”. They have made sure that for Kashmiri Pundits, there is no return route to Kashmir. Times change, so does man , and so has Kashmir. Stone pelting has become the new “in” thing. The emotionally charged, misguided miscreants and paid agents , who are backed ,groomed and guided by Pakistan are using their time and energy to find the best stones of Kashmir. The puppets of ISI viz “The hurriyat conference” have successfully staged the Drama and have held at Ransom Whole of Kashmir.

Time and again, amid these protests one thing has been made clear to one and all that, “this is a Islamic war”, whether one likes it or not. Another thing which has come up time and again from Pakistan backed separatists is that there is no room for “secularism” in Kashmir. Long time back, I used to hear that Kashmir is a land of Rishis and Sufis and the life force of Kashmir is “Kashmiriyat”. Unfortunately, “Kashmiriyat” died long ago ,with the genocide and mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. May be, It is still left with some people in Kashmir who adhere their daily life and routine to Universal spirituality and not only to religion. Personally, I don’t think that religions must have been designed to kill fellow Human beings.

With the arrest of Shabir Ahmed Wani, It has become crystal clear now that the protests and agitations, were staged by the Pakistan Backed separatists and terrorists, in order to create unrest in civil society .These idiosyncratic misanthropists earnestly yearned and prayed to Almighty for the deaths of civilians. For them somehow the pot should keep boiling, Their bread and butter is directly linked to unrest and deaths of civilians .After all this is their profession and they are handsomely paid by their Masters in Islamabad.

Stone pelting is a barbaric act and I was told that even Islam considers this to be unholy, but who cares!!! After all, isn’t Religion also a commodity to be exploited for selfish reasons? And who knows this fact better than “Kashmiri Pandits” who have seen the practical face of Islam. Islamic Scholars may argue endlessly in order to prove that Islam means “Peace”. With due regards to them,they should have taught the actual meaning to those who killed my friends and relatives. Somebody has to remind them “actions speaks louder than words”.

Sufism, which I believe, is an integral part of Islam, has in the recent times lost its sheen and is held hostage by the more stringent Wahabis. Sufism cannot help and motivate anyone to take up gun and kill fellow human beings ,as Sufism has a different way of looking to nature and life.One of the beliefs of the sufi’s is that Allah has made man almost perfect, and other living and non living beings try to emulate Humans, so that they can also become or transform into Humans. I have read a particular sufi arguing that a rock or stone at the river bed of a River or Stream earnestly years to become Human, he also insists to look more closely to a pebble in a stream, and just look at how even a pebble struggles hard to get into the shape and try to resemble that of a Human Face. However, This school of thought will never appeal to stone pelters of Kashmir, who according to sources are paid Rs 50 to Rs 150 per day for engaging the JK Police and CRPF. Isn’t it Irony that stone wants to become Human being, and in Kashmir, some humans have become as cold as a stone….

Separatists who have distorted their religion for the sake of their Selfish cause can twist anything at anytime according to time and Situation. Some of these so called Pseudo-Scholars have targeted the Chief Minister of J&K for a reason which is purely natural.I am talking about ageing. We all know ageing is a natural process, but not with ISI backed separatists. They are arguing that the Chief Minister’s hair has suddenly turned grey because of his unholy acts. Had It been pre-1990’s, When there was euphoria about National conference and when the masses idolized Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah , the similar situation would have been interpreted differently. They would have argued differently and may be compared Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with The great “Moses”, who had also turned grey within a short span of some 40 days when ten commandments were revealed to him at Mount sinai. They would have further sealed this argument as ultimate truth, by comparing the respective ages of Moses and Omar Abdullah. At the age of 40 , Moses was revealed ten commandments, and the present age of Omar Abdullah is also 40 Years…

Approximately 200 million muslims live in my country out of which 5 million muslims live in Kashmir. The only difference between 200 million and 5 million is that the former constitutes minority of India(except J&k)and the latter constitutes majority of J&k. The minorities of India viz Muslims and Christians are mostly at peace with India ,except at some occasions when political parties try to divide the masses of India either on the basis of caste, creed or Religion. But never in the History of India, the situation of any ethnic group has been so deplorable as that of Kashmiri Pandits. In other parts of India, after political turmoil or riots, Occasionally minorities or weaker sections/groups move out of their native places and come back again to their Homes , once Riots subside.However in case of K.P’s, things are different as Kashmir Pandits do not form any vote bank and hence politically unwanted and can only be used as Scapegoats. It is easy for the politicians to blame Kashmiri Hindus for anything and everything. Government is not able to generate enough jobs or livelihood, because either they are inefficient or corrupt, but they are answerable to public,particularly their vote bank.To cover their shortcomings, somebody has to be made a scapegoat,In case of J&k, It his your’s truly” kashmiri pandit”.For the sake of votes, politicians furnish arbitrary evidence and twist the statistics in such a way which somehow makes it evident that Kashmiri pandit is a real culprit.Can’t blame them as there are serious loopholes in Indian vote bank politics and Indian way of Democracy. Kashmiri Hindu is also a culprit because he is well educated, he is non-violent, he is law-abiding, he is hard working, he is still a survivor and above all his heart beats for India. You must have heard of “Kumbah ka Mela” and “ Lord Rama”. Kumbh Mela comes after 12 years, and the Vanvas(exile) of Lord Rama who had to move out of Ayodhya lasted for 14 years. But Hello!!! we are not talking about mythology,we are talking about K.P’s-the hindu minorities of J&K,who don’t have a legal and constitutional voice.Excuse me for reminding you once again that I am a Kashmiri Pandit, uprooted from Kashmir,at the brink of cultural extinction,Victim of politics,still in exile,longing to go back to Kashmir and this is my 21st year in Exile…..

Jammu and Kashmir election results

JAMMU, Dec 28: As expected, the 11th Assembly of the State threw a fractured mandate with no party being able to garner even a simple majority in the House of 87 which saw National Conference emerging as a single largest party winning 28 seats followed by PDP which captured 21.

The Congress suffered major reverses especially in Jammu region where its all Cabinet Ministers and even a sitting Lok Sabha member lost the election reducing the party’s tally of 31 at the time of dissolution of House to just 17. The BJP gained at the expense of Congress jumping from just one seat in the 10th Assembly to a tally of 11, the majority of which (10) came from just two districts of Jammu (7) and Kathua (3).

The National Panthers Party (NPP) lost one seat and came down to a tally of three from four seats it held in the last Assembly. Former Minister Harshdev Singh, who had revolutionised education sector during first three years of coalition Government as an Education Minister, made a hat-trick in Ramnagar winning the seat by a huge margin of 12042 votes. However, NPP supremo, Prof Bhim Singh forfeited his security deposit in Jammu East.

Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which had contested second highest number of 83 seats behind 85 of NC, failed to open its account. The BSP had won four seats in 1996 and one in 2002. However, BSP’s lone MLA from Vijaypur, Manjit Singh had later defected to PDP. Other major national and regional parties, which couldn’t open their account, were Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Jammu State Morcha (Progressive), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bharatiya Bahujan Party (BBP).

Out of all 87 results declared by this evening, NC won 28 seats including 20 in Kashmir, 6 in Jammu and 2 in Kargil while PDP emerged second major group in the Assembly capturing 21 seats—19 in Kashmir and 2 in Jammu region. The PDP opened its account in Jammu winning Mendhar and Darhal seats as last time it had drawn blank.

The Congress won 17 seats, 14 less than the tally of 31 it held in the dissolved House. Out of 17 seats of Congress, 13 came from Jammu region, three from Kashmir and one from Leh. Congress had won 20 seats in 2002 but it wrested Poonch seat from NC in by election. Eleven Independent Candidates had joined Congress and 9 of them had been fielded again by the party.

The BJP, which was major beneficiary in the Assembly election reached two digit mark for the first time since its inception in 1982 as it won 11 seats but its tally was mainly confined to just three districts—7 in Jammu, 3 in Kathua and 1 in Reasi. The BJP had recorded its previous best tally of 8 in 1996. It had drawn blank in 1983, won only two seats in 1987 and one in 2002.

Mohd Yusuf Tarigami (CPM), Ghulam Hassan Mir (JKDP-N) and Hakim Mohd Yasin (PDF) opened account for their parties in Kashmir.

Four Independent candidates emerged victorious—two in Jammu and one each in Kashmir and Leh. They include fire brand Jammu leader, Ashwani Sharma, who recorded a thumping victory in Bishnah for second consecutive time and bureaucrat turned politician Charanjit Singh Jasrotia, who left behind former Minister Babu Singh and sitting Congress MP Lal Singh, to win Kathua seat. Abdul Rashid Sheikh (Langet in Kashmir) and Tsetan Namgayal (LUTF, Nobra) were other two Independent winners.

Leader of Opposition in 10th Assembly and prominent NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather created a history of sorts by becoming only first political leader in the State to record sixth consecutive victory from Charar-e-Sharief segment in Budgam district. He had won all Assembly polls from Charar-e-Sharief since 1977. Earlier, former Congress leader, Girdhari Lal Dogra held the record of five straight victories from Hiranagar from 1957 to 1977.

Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad recorded highest victory margin of 29,436 in Bhaderwah segment, which he had won with 58,000 polls in 2006 by-election after taking over as Chief Minister of the State on November 2, 2005. In Kashmir, NC leader and former Deputy Speaker Mohd Akbar Lone recorded highest victory margin of 12,000 in Sonawari.

Three women made entry into the Assembly, all from Kashmir region. They include PDP president Mehbooba Mufti (Wachi), Sakina Itoo (Noorabad) and Shamima Firdous (Habbakadal), both NC.

The BJP and Congress had fielded two women candidates each in Jammu region and all four lost. They were Suman Bhagat, former Minister (RS Pura) and Kanta Andotra (Basohli), both Congress, who were members of previous Assembly and Satwant Kour Dogra (Samba) and Shilpi Verma (Bishnah), both BJP. The NC had not fielded any woman candidate in Jammu.

As the BJP virtually swept Jammu and Kathua districts in Jammu region winning 10 out of 16 seats at the stake, benefiting mainly due to 62 days long Amarnath land agitation, several bigwigs of Congress including all Cabinet Ministers from Jammu region and a sitting MP were sent biting the dust.

Former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress veteran Mangat Ram Sharma, a five time MLA, several time Minister, Speaker and MP was relegated to third place in Jammu West. Another Cabinet Minister in Congress led coalition Government, Gulchain Singh Charak finished third in Bishnah while Jugal Kishore (Reasi), Mula Ram (Raipur Domana), Suman Bhagat (RS Pura) and Lal Singh (Kathua) were all defeated with huge margins. Lal Singh, who is presently a Lok Sabha member from Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat and was a Cabinet Minister in PDP led coalition Government, was pushed to fifth place in Kathua. Lal Singh’s wife, Kanta Andotra was defeated by the BJP in Basohli, a seat held Lal Singh for two terms and Kanta for the third term.

Ministers of State from Congress in previous coalition including Gharu Ram (Suchetgarh), Dr Romesh Sharma (Nowshera), Prem Sagar Aziz (Bani) and Puran Singh (Darhal) lost the election. Another MoS Babu Singh (Congress rebel) lost in Kathua.

Despite the BJP surge, Speaker Tara Chand (Chhamb), Raman Bhalla (Gandhi Nagar), Sham Sharma (Akhnoor) and Dr Manohar Lal Sharma (Billawar) kept the Congress flag high in Jammu and Kathua districts winning their seats.

BJP suffered a major setback when its former State president Dr Nirmal Singh was defeated in Gandhi Nagar by Mr Bhalla with 2263 votes though the party managed to win two other City seats where its incumbent president Ashok Khajuria (City East) and former Union Minister Prof Chaman Lal Gupta (City West) won with comfortable margins. Another prominent BJP leader Pawan Gupta lost Udhampur seat to NPP candidate Balwant Singh Mankotia.

The NC made a clean sweep of all eight seats in Srinagar district.

Prominent NC leaders, who lost the election in Jammu region, were Ajatshatru Singh (Nagrota), who went down to BJP’s Jugal Kishore for second consecutive term, Ajay Sadhotra, provincial president (Marh), who too lost to BJP and Khalid Najeeb Suhrawardhy (Doda), who was defeated by Abdul Mujeed Wani (Congress) for second time.

Surjeet Singh Slathia (Vijaypur) and Radhey Shyam Sharma (Nowshera) staged a comeback for the NC having won the election in 1996 and lost in 2002. While Mr Slathia defeated BJP’s strong contender Chander Prakash Ganga, Mr Sharma overcame the challenge from Congress nominee Dr Romesh Sharma to win the seat.

Doda belt comprising six districts including Azad’s Bhaderwah sided with the Congress giving the party five seats leaving only one for the NC. The BJP drew a blank. The Congress candidates who won in Doda belt were Azad (Bhaderwah), Abdul Mujeed Wani (Doda), Ghulam Mohd Saroori (Inderwal), Ashok Kumar (Ramban) and Waqar Rasool (Banihal). NC could manage to win only Kishtwar seat with party leader Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo keeping the party flag high retaining the seat for second consecutive term.

Out of 11 seats in Jammu district, seven went to BJP, three to Congress and one to an Independent while NC drew a blank. NC had won four seats in Jammu district in 1996. Out of two seats in Samba district, one each was won by NC and NPP. Of five seats in Kathua district, BJP captured three while one each was grabbed by Congress and an Independent.

Udhampur district again sided with the NPP which won two out of three seat while one segment went to Congress. Out of three seats in Reasi district, one each went went to BJP, Congress and NC. Similarly, out of three seats in Poonch district, one each went to NC, PDP and Congress while out of four seats in Rajouri district, two went to NC and one each to PDP and Congress.

Prominent losers in Kashmir include People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts Qazi Mohammad Afzal (Ganderbal), Tariq Hamid Qarra (Batmaloo), Abdul Aziz Zargar (Noorabad) and Dillawar Mir (Rafiabad). All the four PDP leaders lost to their National Conference rivals.

In Jammu East, BJP’s Ashok Khajuria polled 15,857 votes and defeated Congress nominee Narender Singh Raju by 10,404 votes. Raju got 5453 votes while Independent Sanjay Mahay, a Corporator in JMC, got 3473 votes. A total of 31,262 votes had been polled in City East. BJP wrested the seat from Congress.

In Jammu City West, out of a total of 85,013 votes polled, BJP leader Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, a former Union Minister and three time MP secured 34,288 votes followed by Independent candidate Surinder Singh Shingari who got 21,251 votes. Congress veteran Mangat Ram Sharma got only 13,853 votes and finished third. Gupta won by a margin of 13037 votes. BJP wrested the seat from Congress.

Gandhi Nagar was only constituency in Jammu City which went to the Congress. Out of 90,161 votes polled, Congress stalwart Raman Bhalla got 33,486 votes while former State BJP chief Dr Nirmal Singh took 31,223 votes. NC candidate Tarlochan Singh Wazir, MLC took 18,935 votes. Bhalla retained the seat by a margin of 2263 votes.

BJP leader Jugal Kishore recorded second straight victory in Nagrota over Ajatshatru Singh, the scion of erstwhile rulers of the State. Out of a total of 47,948 votes polled, Kishore secured 11,141 votes and won the seat by 1620 votes. Ajatshatru got 9521 votes while PDF’s Sobat Ali took 7817 votes.

Prominent Jammu leader Ashwani Sharma again emerged champion in Bishnah seat for a second term despite the fact that several candidates were pitted against him from Bishnah town to defeat him. Sharma, however, overcame all challenged and polled 14006 out of a total of 60,515 votes. His nearest rival Kamal Arora got 13,560 votes while Congress leader and former Cabinet Minister Gulchain Singh Charak finished third taking just 8155 votes.

RS Pura (Reserve) seat was also won by BJP’s newcomer, Dr Garu Bhagat, a Professor in SKUAST Jammu, who polled 15,902 votes out of a total of 52,326 votes. His nearest rival and former Congress Minister Suman Bhagat got 14,272 cotes while NC leader Romesh Motton secured 11,929 votes. Dr Garu wrested the seat from Congress by 1630 votes.

Sham Choudhary (BJP) recorded an impressive victory margin of 7592. Out of 45,476 votes polled, Choudhary got 17,995 while NC leader Taranjit Singh Tony managed 10,403. Congress candidates and former Minister Choudhary Garu Ram was relegated to third spot polling only 6545 votes. BJP wrested the seat from Congress.

BJP’s Choudhary Sukhnandan won from Marh by a margin of 6581 votes. While Sukhnandan polled 18,368 votes, NC leader and former Minister Ajay Sadhotra got 11,787 votes. Independent and Congress rebel Balwant Singh took 9207 votes. BJP wrested the seat from NC.

Newcomer in BJP Bharat Bushan defeated Congress stalwart and former Minister Mula Ram by 12,312 votes. Bushan polled 28,685 votes while Mula Ram got 16,373 votes. NC’s Sat Pal Lakhotra finished third with 6333 votes. BJP wrested the seat from Congress.

Speaker Tara Chand won Chhamb seat for third consecutive term polling 25,335 votes out of a total of 51,789 votes polls. His immediate BJP rival Chaman Lal Kanaithia for 22,940 votes. Tara Chand retained the seat by 2395 votes.

Sham Sharma (Congress) polled 31,600 votes and won the seat by 13,884 votes. His BJP rival Govind Ram Sharma took 17716 votes while BSP’s Vijay Kumar had 6668 votes. Congress retained the seat.

In Samba district, Samba seat was retained by NPP’s Yashpal Kundal, a former Minister by 1989 votes. Kundal polled 14,631 votes while BJP’s Satwant Kour Dogra got 12,642 votes. Subash Bhagat (Congress) took 10,714 votes, Som Nath (BSP) took 6647 votes and NC’s Som Nath Manyal got 6361 votes. A total of 53,900 votes were polled in Samba.

In Vijaypur segment, NC’s Surjit Singh Slathia won the seat by 1212 votes defeating BJP’s popular leader Chander Prakash Ganga. Slathia had won the seat in 1996 but lost to BSP’s Manjit Singh in 2002. Manjit had later joined PDP. Votes polled by prominent candidates in Vijaypur include Slathia (21,090), Ganga (19,878), Manjit Singh, PDP (12,445), Rajesh Pargotra, NPP (11,054), Hari Singh, Congress (1376), Jarnail Singh, BSP (1066) and Sat Pal, BBP (6091).

In Kathua, Independent Charanjit Singh Jasrotia bagged 19,123 votes and won the seat by 2362 votes. Votes polled by other noted candidates in Kathua include Som Raj Majotra (BSP, 16761), Babu Singh (Independent, 10,887), Prof Sain Dass (BJP, 7913) and Lal Singh (Congress, 6053). A total of 74070 votes were polled in Kathua.

Out of 64680 votes polled in Hiranagar, BJP’s Durga Dass got 19,633 votes followed by BJP revel and Independent Prem Lal, who got 16,881 votes. Congress candidate Girdhari Lal Chalotra finished third with 14,011 votes.

Congress candidate Dr Manohar Lal Sharma retained Billawar seat by 8329 votes. He polled 22,137 votes followed by Satish Sharma, BJP (13808), Romy Khajuria, NC (9363), Balbir Singh, Independent and Congress rebel (6352) and Pankaj Dogra, Independent and Congress rebel (3800). A total of 64,680 votes were polled in Billawar.

Out of 23,903 votes polled in Bani, BJP’s Lal Chand took 10,936 while NC’s Ghulam Haider Malik got 8663. Congress candidate and former Minister Prem Sagar Aziz was pushed to third spot with 4462 votes. Lal Chand won by 2273 votes.

BJP’s Jagdish Sapolia finally emerged victorious from Basohli after having lost three elections consecutively. He got 16,651 votes out of a total of 47,235 votes polled. NC’s Devinder Singh Bindhu secured 13,770 votes while Lal Singh’s wife, Kanta Andotra finished third with 13,381 votes.

In Reasi district, BJP’s Baldev Raj Sharma emerged victorious after losing twice in 1996 and 2002. He defeated Congress leader and former Cabinet Minister in Azad Government, Jugal Kishore by 6665 votes. Baldev polled 26,031 votes while Kishore got 19,369 votes. NC candidate and former Minister Jagjivan Lal took 15,653 votes. BJP wrested the seat from Congress.

Gool-Arnas seat was retained by Congress when former Minister Aijaz Khan defeated NC’s Ghulam Qadar Mughal by a margin of 3452 votes. Aijaz polled 15,594 votes while Mughal got 12,142 votes. BJP’s Kabla Singh finished third with 8204 votes.

NC candidate Abdul Gani Malik won Gulabgarh seat for a third term polling 14,268 votes. His Independent rival Mumtaz Ahmed, brother of Aijaz Khan, got 11,020 votes. Malik won by 3248 votes.

In Udhampur district, NPP strongman and former Minister, Harshdev Singh scored a hat-trick in Ramnagar winning the seat by a huge margin of 12,042 votes. Harshdev secured 30,439 votes while his immediate rival Vinod Khajuria of BSP got 18,397 followed by Congress rebel RS Pathania 9254, Thakur Dass (Congress) 1489 and Rakesh Anthal (BJP) 825. A total of 64,598 votes were polled in Ramnagar.

NPP leader Balwant Singh Mankotia retained Udhampur proper defeating BJP’s Pawan Gupta by 2770 votes. Mankotia polled 25,259 votes while Pawan got 22,489 votes. Brij Mohan Sharma of Congress got 10,617 votes and BSP’s Dhanni Ram Atri polled 6571 votes. A total of 71,074 votes were polled in Udhampur.

Out of 45,788 votes polled in Chenani, Congress winner Krishan Chander Bhagat secured 16,276 votes followed by BJP’s Dina Nath Bhagat, who took 9838 votes while NPP candidate Faquir Nath got 9131 votes. Congress wrested the seat from NPP with 6438 votes.

In Bhaderwah segment of Doda district, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad polled 38,238 votes to retain the seat while Daya Krishan Kotwal (BJP) got 8802 votes, Aslam Goni (NC) 6687 votes and Sheikh Mujeeb (PDP) took 2807 votes. Azad won the seat by 29,436 votes.

Doda proper was also retained by Congress candidate and former Minister Abdul Mujeed Wani who secured 23,254 votes while his NC rival Khalid Najeeb Suhrawardhy had 16,102 votes. BJP’s Ishtiyaq Wani took 2756 votes while PDP candidate got 1310 votes. Wani won by a margin of 7152 votes.

In Kishtwar district, NC candidate Sajjad Kitchloo retained Kishtwar seat by 2465 votes defeating his nearest rival Sunil Sharma of BJP. Out of 51,106 votes polled, Kitchloo took 19,248 votes while Sharma got 16,783. PDP candidate Syed Asgar Ali could muster only 10,403 votes while Congress candidate Jugal Bhandari managed 1121 votes.

Inderwal seat was also retained by Congress candidate and former Minister Ghulam Mohd Saroori by a margin of 10,411 votes. Out of 52,904 votes polled, Saroori took 22,682 while BJP candidate Shakti Parihar polled 12,269 and NC’s Karim Wani managed 9002.

Congress candidate Waqar Rasool won Banihal seat in Ramban district taking 8287 votes and defeating Independent candidate Showkat Daing by 3033 votes. Daing got 5254 votes while former MLA Banihal Moulvi Abdul Rashid secured 4960 votes. NC’s Sajjad Shaheen had 4558 votes.

Ramban seat also went to Congress with its candidate Ashok Kumar polling 21,779 votes, BJP’s Bali Bhagat 11,460 votes and NC’s Chaman Lal 11,395 votes. Chaman Lal was MLA in the previous Assembly. Congress won the seat by 10,319 votes.

In Poonch district, Poonch-Haveli seat went to NC’s Aijaz Jan, who polled 28,297 votes out of a total of 71,414 votes polled. Congress candidate Bashir Naz took 18,364 votes, PDP’s Imtiyaz Bandey got 11,950 votes while BJP’s Pardeep Sharma polled 6980 votes. Jan won the seat by nearly 10,000 votes.

Former PCC (I) chief and ex-Rajya Sabha member, Choudhary Aslam won Surankote seat after losing twice to NC’s Syed Mushtaq Bukhari. While Aslam managed 28,102 votes, Bukhari took 26,051 votes. PDP candidate Mumtaz Hussain Shah, a cousin of Bukhari took 6585 votes out of a total of 63,553 votes polled. Aslam won the seat by nearly 2200 votes.

NC leader Javed Rana lost in Mendhar to PDP’s Rafiq Hussain Khan by about 750 votes. While Rana polled 28,294 votes, Khan took 29,036 votes. Congress candidate Majeed Ahmed Khan polled 1559 votes only out of a total of 77,378 votes polled. PDP wrested the seat from NC.

In Rajouri district, Congress candidate Shabir Khan registered victory by 333 votes over PDP candidate Master Tassaduq Hussain. While Khan polled 10,013 votes, Tassaduq took 9680 votes. BJP’s Vibodh Gupta finished third at 8712 votes. Congress wrested the seat from NC.

Darhal seat went to PDP candidate Zulfikar Ali who polled 19,395 votes and defeated Independent Iqbal Malik (14,839 votes) by a margin of 4556 votes. NC candidate Choudhary Liaquat got 14,221 votes and Congress nominee and former Minister Puran Singh mustered only 12,500 votes. PDP wrested the seat from Congress.

NC leader RS Sharma recorded impressive victory in Nowshera by 3820 votes over Congress candidate and former Minister Dr Romesh Sharma. NC leader polled 16,511 votes while Congress candidate got 12,691 votes. BSP candidate Surinder Choudhary polled 12,186 votes while BJP’s Vishwinder Dev finished fourth at 11,701 votes. NC wrested the seat from Congress.

NC candidate Rashpal Singh retained Kalakote seat by 11,420 votes. He polled 25,314 votes while Congress rebel and Independent candidate Ashok Sharma got 13,894 votes. PDP candidate polled 7742 votes while Congress candidate Abdul Gani Kohli got 1077 votes.

In Kargil district, NC’s Qamar Ali Akhoon won Kargil seat defeating Independent Haji Nissar Ali, backed by Congress with nearly 3000 votes. Akhoon polled 22,935 votes while Haji got 17,635 votes. In Zanskar, NC’s Feroz Khan won by 918 votes. He secured 6552 votes while Congress candidate Ghulam Raza took 5634 votes.

In Leh district, Congress candidate and former Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora defeated sitting MP from Ladakh and LUTF nominee Thupstan Chewang by 1523 votes. Jora polled 19,008 votes while Chewang got 17,485 votes. In Nobra, LUTF candidate Tsetan Namgayal got 4608 votes while Congress candidate Tsewang Rigzin took 3778 votes. Tsetan won by 930 votes.

Qazi Afzal, who had defeated Omar Abdullah in 2002 polls, lost the Ganderbal constituency this time to the NC chief by a huge margin of 3,600 votes.

Similarly Tariq Qarra, who had entered into the Assembly in 2004 by-polls, was defeated by Irfan Ahmad Shah of National Conference.

Sakina Itoo made it to the Assembly from Noorabad constituency by defeating Zargar, who had won the earlier duel in 2002.

In the battle of rebels, PDP rebel Javaid Ahmad Dar, contesting on NC ticket, prevailed over National Conference rebel Mohammad Dillawar Mir, who had defected to PDP in 2005.

Usman Majid, Congress-backed Independent from Bandipora who was a Minister both in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led Government as well as Ghulam Nabi Azad-led dispensation, lost to PDP general secretary and MLC Nizamuddin Bhat.

Former Minister Ghulam Hassan Khan, who was contesting as an Independent candidate from Shopian constituency after he was denied ticket by PDP, lost to his PDP rival.

National Conference provincial president Dr Mehboob Beg was also among the prominent losers as he lost to former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed from Anantnag constituency by a margin of over 5000 votes.

Mustafa Kamal, younger brother of NC patron Farooq Abdullah, lost to Ghulam Hassan Mir, a PDP rebel who had floated his own party before the seven-phased elections.

Former Minister Haji Nissar Ali, who was backed as an Independent candidate by Congress, lost by 3000 votes to his National Conference rival Qamar Ali Akhoon.

Abdul Rashid Shaheen of National Conference, Lok Sabha member from Baramulla constituency, was defeated by PDP leader Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari while another Lok Sabha member, Thupstan Chewang, who represents Leh Parliamentary seat, lost to former Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora of Congress by about 1500 votes.

The NC and PDP improved their position in the Kashmir region at the cost of Congress, CPI(M) and Independents.

Against 19 seats in 2002, the NC has improved by three seats while PDP won 19 seats against 16 in 2002.

However, the NC suffered a loss of one seat in North Kashmir where a total 15 seats were at stake. Against winning 8 seats in 2002, the party could won from seven seats this time.

PDP, however, improved winning five seats against three in 2002 while Congress could manage to get only one seat this time against two in 2002. The others retained two seats.

In South Kashmir, the NC got one seat this time against 2 in 2002. However, PDP improved by three seats as it had won nine in 2002 against 12 this time. But again Congress won two against three seats in 2002 while Communist Party of India (M) retained one and lost another.

Similarly, NC won two seats in Ladakh region, an improvement by one seat while Congress won one against zero in 2002. Only one Independent won against three in 2002 in the region.

The NC registered a major gain in Central Kashmir winning 12 seats against 8 in 2002. It made a clean sweep in Srinagar district winning all the eight seats this time against four in 2002.

The PDP lost one as against three seats in 2002 as it could get just two this time. Peoples Democratic Front retained one seat while all the three Independents lost this time.

The oldest political party of the State was particularly bouyed by the fact that both Patron Farooq Abdullah and president Omar Abdullah won the three seats they were contesting.

Abdullah senior, defeated PDP rivals from Hazratbal as well as Sonawar constituencies while his son Omar got his revenege this time by winning in Ganderbal Assembly constituency.

Ali Mohammad Sagar of National Conference was elected to the State Assembly for the fifth consecutive time. He won from Khanyar constituency for the third straight time. He had earlier won from Batamaloo in 1987 and 1983 elections.

Mubarak Gul of National Conference also made it three times in a row from Iddgah constituency while Shamima Firdous of the same party romped home a clear winner in Habbakadal constituency by defeating BJP candidate Hiralal Chatta by more than 2000 votes. Firdous, had lost to Raman Mattoo in 2002 elections.

NC leader Peer Mohammad Afaq defeated former MLA Shahejehan Dar of the PDP in Zadibal constituency.

However, the surprise package from the National Conference was Nasir Aslam Wani, who won from Amirakadal seat, proving all his critics wrong. Wani, who hailed from Sogam area in Kupwara district, overcame stiff challenge from PDP candidate Pervaiz Ahmad Bhat, Ahmreen Badar of Congress, and JKANC vice president Muzaffar Shah besides putting to rest the outsider-native debate that had raged in the constituency during the campaign.

In Kangan constituency, Mian Mohammad Altaf of NC was declared elected for the fourth straight time while Mohamamd Ashraf Ganaie wrested from Congress the Sopore seat.

Former Deputy Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone (NC) retained his Sonwari seat by a huge margin of over 12,000 votes while Nazir Ahmad Khan, Kafilur Rehman and Mir Saifullah (all NC) scored hattrick from Gurez, Karnah and Kupwara seats respectively.

However, the National Conference suffered setbacks in Lolab and Langate Assembly constituencies where PDP leader Abdul Haq Khan and Independent Abdul Rashid Shiekh defeated its candidates. The losers from these two seats were Qaiser Jamsheed Lone and Shariefuddin Shariq respectively.

Although PDP consolidated its gains made in 2002 polls by adding five more seats to its tally of 16 this year, the party suffered some shock defeats at the hands of National Conference. PDP stalwart and former Minister Tariq Hamid Qarra lost to Irfan Shah in Batamaloo segment while another former Minister of the party Dilawar Mir was defeated by PDP rebel and NC candidate Javaid Ahmad Dar in Rafiabad segment.

Abdul Aziz Zargar also lot his Noorabad seat to National Conference’s Sakina Ittoo.

However, the party made a clean sweep of Pulwama and Shopian districts, bagging all the six seats. The party also did well in Anantnag and Kulgam districts.

Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed defeated NC provincial president Mehboob Beg in Anantnag constituency while PDP president Mehbooba Mufti won comfortably from Wacchi constituency.

Sartaj Madni, Abdul Gaffar Sofi, Abdul Rehman Bhat Veeri, Syed Bashir and Mohammad Khalil Bandh all retained Devsar, Homshalibugh, Bijbehara, Rajpora and Pulwama seats respectively for the PDP.

The party, which did not give mandate to former Minister Ghulam Hassan Khan from Shopian as his name had figured in 2006 sex scandal investigations, fielded Abdul Razaq Wagay, who won by a comfortable margin.

In Budgam district the two parties shared the spoils as both bagged two seats each while the remaining seat went to People’s Democratic Front (PDF) chairman Hakim Mohammad Yasin.

Abdul Rahim Rather of National Conference prevailed over Legislative Council Chairman G N Lone of PDP in Chrar-e-Sharief. Rather won the seat for the record sixth time, having won all the elections since 1977. Aga Syed Roohullah retained his Budgam seat by defeated PDP leader M. Kamaal Mir.

The PDP won from Chadoora where Javid Mustafa Mir won ahead of National Conference candidate Ali Mohammad Dar and Congress candidate G N Mir. The party also won from Beerwah as Shafi Ahmad prevailed over the competition by a slender margin 164 votes.

Hakim Yasin had fallen behind PDP’s Saifuddin Bhat, a Hurriyat Conference deserter, but in the end prevailed.

The NC and PDP prospered in the Valley at the cost of Congress as the party managed to retain only three of the five seats it had won in 2002 elections.

Ghulam Ahmad Mir, despite being arrested in the sex scandal case in 2006, managed to retain his Dooru seat as did Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed from Kokernag, who was himself embroiled in many controversies a year ahead of the elections.

Taj Mohiuddin retained the Uri seat for the party but Sopore and Amirakadal constituencies went to National Conference.

Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami of CPI(M) won the Kulgam seat for the third time in a row but Mohammad Khalil Naik, who had won from Wacchi in 2002, lost this time.

Ghulam Hassan Mir, a PDP rebel who floated Democratic Nationalist Party ahead of elections, won from Gulmarg seat, defeating PDP candidate Ghulam Mohiuddin Sheikh and Mustafa Kamal, National Conference leader and brother of Farooq Abdullah.

Final Tally

Total Seats 87

NC 28

PDP 21

Cong 17

BJP 11

NPP 03

CPM 01

JKDP-N 01

PDF 01

indpendant-04
source:daily excelsior

suicide by a patriotic….and his last poem(amarnath issue)

JAMMU, July 23: A youth taking part in the chain hunger strike against cancellation of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) today sacrificed his life after consuming poison in protest against the remarks of National Conference chief, Omar Abdullah in Parliament yesterday that the land to Amarnath shrine Board will be returned only over dead bodies of the Kashmiris.

Following death of the youth, the activists of Sangarsh Samiti and other organisations went on a rampage in the City pelting stones on moving vehicles and enforcing a bandh in some City areas. The mob also ransacked mortuary of Government Medical College, Jammu and twice lifted body of the martyr to shift it to the venue of dharna. The Samiti has given a call for Jammu bandh tomorrow. The Bar Association Jammu has also called for a bandh tomorrow.

Identified as Kuldeep Kumar Dogra of Talab Tillo, the youth who joined the hunger strike launched by the Sangarsh Samiti in front of Brahman Sabha this afternoon fell unconscious while delivering a speech in protest against Omar Abdullah’s statement this afternoon.

Commenting on Omar’s remarks, the youth said that NC chief had stated in Lok Sabha yesterday that Kashmiris will die instead of transferring the land to SASB and “I would show Mr Abdullah how the people of Jammu too can sacrifice their lives to get back the land”.

Soon after his remarks, the youth fell unconscious and was taken to GMC hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. As the news of youth’s sacrifice spread, a large number of people took to streets in the city and its outskirts and resorted to road blockades. The shopkeepers in many areas including Talab Tillo and Bohri downed their shutters.

The protesting youth with banners in their hands also shouted slogans against Mr Abdullah and held him responsible for the incident.

They demonstrated in Parade Ground near the venue of hunger strike and hundreds of youth reached the GMC hospital from where they forcibly shifted the dead body to Parade Ground where it was kept for paying tributes by the people. The protesting youths also ransacked the mortuary in GMC, tore its records and also broke window panes of newly constructed emergency building in hospital.

However, the body was later shifted by police to the GMC for post-mortem which was conducted by the Board of Doctors constituted by Dr Romesh Gupta, Medical Superintendent, GMC Jammu. The prominent doctors in the Board include Dr Kuldeep Dogra, Dr Ratnakar and Dr Brahm Dutt.

However the protesting youth again took the body to Parade Ground and did not allow its cremation.

After the sacrifice of life by Kuldeep Kumar Dogra, youths fanned out in different parts of the City especially Parade Ground, Jewel Chowk, Talab Tillo and other areas and subjected matadors and other vehicles to heavy stone pelting. Transport in several areas went off the road while shopkeepers downed their shutters voluntarily.

Most parts of the City observed a spontaneous bandh.

Youth also assembled at Bohri, Talab Tillo, Gandhi Nagar, Muthi and Barnai and staged protest and blocked roads. The vehicular traffic also came to a grinding halt on Jammu, Akhnoor road after the activists of Sangarsh Samiti erected barricades on the road.

Sangarsh Samiti chairman Leela Karan Sharma said a suicide note has also been recovered from pocket of the youth which is lying with Bakshi Nagar Police. In this note, the youth was reported to have said that he was making sacrifice for a supreme cause and tributes be paid to him only after the goal of getting land back for the SASB is achieved, he added.

Mr Sharma said all business establishments and transporters will observe a complete bandh tomorrow in protest against callousness of the Government.

In response to a question regarding indefinite bandh, Mr Sharma said he can’t alone take a decision in this regard as it has to be decided by Samiti which is a conglomerate of over 35 organizations.

He said Samiti has the support of all Jammu organizations including some political parties. Even the activists of Congress and NC have also been supporting our struggle, he added.

Mr Sharma said the people have been giving an overwhelming support to the Sangarsh Samiti in its struggle and nine days bandh call. But he didn’t want to add to the problems of those people by giving an indefinite bandh call who didn’t have even ration in their houses, he added.

He said the Samiti has given a call asking the Jammuites to join the present struggle irrespective of their caste, creed and religion.

Leela Karan, while lambasting Omar Abdullah for his remarks on SASB land, said that in case the Kashmiris posses such a feeling towards the Hindu shrines then Jammuites will be forced to evacuate them from Bhatandi and other places in Jammu where they have constructed the posh Kohtis.

Meanwhile, today was the fourth day of the chain hunger strike launched by the Samiti. A conglomeration of 35 political, social and religious organizations, the Samiti had coordinated the nine-day Jammu bandh from June 30 during the agitation’s first phase.

Meanwhile, the chain hunger strike of Sangarsh Samiti in other district and tehsil headquarters of Jammu also continued today.

.Dogra Liberation Front chief, Ram Paul has claimed that the martyr Kuldeep Kumar was its staunch activist.

Hindu Shiv Sena (HSS) has announced Rs 15,000 for the bereaved family. Sena president Krishan Manhas has also appealed the Sangarsh Samiti and other social organizations to make generous donations for the bereaved family.

Some paras of poem recited by Kuldeep Kumar few minutes before his death at Parade are as follow.

“Bigul Baj Raha Hain Andolan Ka Gagan Goonjta Hain Naroon Sai.”

“Mila Rahi Hain Aaj Jammu Ki Miti Nazar Sitaroon Sai.”

“Ek Baat Kehni Hain Laikin Aaj Desh Key Piaroon Sai.”

“Janta Sai, Loogoon Sai, Foojiyoon Ki Khadi Kataroon Sai.”

“Sambal Kai Rehna Apnay Ghar Main Chupay Huyay Gadaroon Sai.”

“Jhank Rahai Hain Apnay Dushman Apnay Hi Devaroon Sai.”

“Sanbal Kai Rehna Apnay Ghar Mian Chupay Huyay Gadaroon Sai.”

“Jago Tumko Dogron Ki Jagir Ki Raksha Karni Hain.”

“Jago Tumko Lakhoon Ki Takdir Ki Raksha Karni Hain.”

Abi Jo Bani Hai Us Tasveer Ki Raksha Karni Hain.’’

source:daily excelsior