With the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) assuring the Election Commission of India (EC) that it is ready to provide adequate security personnel to conduct free, fair and peaceful assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the decks have by and large been cleared for the first Assembly election since 2014. Both the Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu are said to have been “on the same page” on the need for adequate security for candidates as well as ensuring peaceful conduct of the democratic exercise.
During his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the CEC Rajiv Kumar made all the right noises about holding Assembly polls in the union territory. He said time has come to give the people of J&K their own government through elections, adding that “no internal or external intervention will be allowed to derail the democratic process.” These are welcome statements but somehow some skepticism about the Election Commission of India’s seriousness about holding Assembly polls in the union territory persists.
There is reason to believe now that the elections are set to be announced in the near term in line with the Supreme Court deadline to hold the exercise in the UT before the September 30 deadline. But people in the UT are keeping their fingers crossed. This is because both the central and the UT governments have exhibited little urgency to hold Assembly elections over the past five years. All assurances to this effect have turned out to be false. This despite the fact that the situation has visibly improved in the region. The militancy in Kashmir Valley has progressively reduced which is borne out by the drastic drop in the number of militants and by the disappearance of unrest and stone throwing. And by that yardstick this is the most conducive atmosphere imaginable for a free and fair electoral exercise.
True, parts of Jammu division have witnessed a steady surge in militant activity creating a degree of uncertainty about the poll process based on enhanced security threat perception. But it is also true that some Kashmir observers argue that the centre may be reluctant to hold polls in the UT not just because of the renewed militancy in Jammu but also because of the prospect of the elected government asserting itself against centre’s ongoing policies in the region. But these are unfounded fears. All polls in Jammu and Kashmir, more so in the Valley, have been held under the shadow of gun since 1989. Today the overall security situation is far better than it ever was over the past three and half decades. So, the ECI should hold the exercise without any further delay.
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