Srinagar: A panchayat building under construction in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district was set on fire by unknown perpetrators in a fourth such incident last night.
Reports stated that the panchayat building was set on fire in Nagbal village of Tral last night. The building, they said, suffered minor damage.
“It was an attempt by the miscreants which was thwarted by a patrolling party of the security forces,” SP Awantipora Zahid Malik was quoted by Greater Kashmir.
Tensions are underway after both local parties, National Conference and People’s Democratic Party announced that they would be boycotting the upcoming municipal, local body elections whic hare sceduled to take place in October, November. Following their announcement, JK Chief Secretary said that the polls would go as planned and there would be no deferment.
Earlier yesterday, the Joint Resistance Leaders (JRL) while reiterating their call of ULB, Panchayat polls said that it is a “political gimmick to hoodwink international community”.
Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik while rejecting any electoral process as a substitute to right to self-determination, made a fervent appeal to the freedom loving people of Kashmir to observe a complete election boycott of the polls.
Hitting back at Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh for appealing them to participate in the Municipal and Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the three top regional mainstream political parties National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) said “Delhi has not listened to our appeal and why should we listen to appeal of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh when a decision to hold Municipal and Panchayat elections has been taken without our consent and knowing our reservations about Article 35-A and vulnerable security scenario in the state.”
State Secretary CPI(M) Ghulam Nabi Malik, in a statement said that despite majority of mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir deciding not to participate in these polls shows the arrogance of the BJP-led Central Government.
“The representatives of mainstream political parties had raised some issues, including linking of these elections by both the Central and State governments with the plea in Supreme Court on the issue of Article 35-A and the special status of the state. It was wrong on behalf of the Government to use polls as a reason to seek deferment of Article 35-A in the SC. The mainstream political parties had also urged the Center’s to clear its stand over Article 35A before announcing ULB and Panchayat elections,” the statement said.
