Srinagar tense ahead of EC meet on J&K polls
Separatist leaders have called for a shutdown to be observed on Monday when the Election Commission will hold meeting of all mainstream political parties in Srinagar for assembly polls in J& K.
By Agencies |
SRINAGAR: Separatist leaders have called for a shutdown to be observed on Monday when the Election Commission will hold meeting of all mainstream political parties in Srinagar for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Members of coordination committee of two factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference met at the residence of hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani to decide on the programme for the week starting on Monday.
"There shall be a general shutdown on Monday against the all-party meet called by the Election Commission of India to explore the possibility of elections in the state," Geelani, chairman of his faction of the Hurriyat, told media.
"The shutdown has also been called against the brutal killing of a youth in Nowhatta Saturday by the police and the decision of the government to detain and shift senior separatist leaders to jails outside the valley," Geelani said.
He asked people to resume normal activities of life on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to be followed by peaceful protests Friday this week.
Representatives of the two Hurriyat factions, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, traders federation, chambers of commerce and industry and government employees co-ordination committee attended the meeting.
The land row has had the state on the boil amid conflicting claims over a piece of forest land allotted to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that manages annual pilgrimage to a cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Nearly 50 people have died, mostly in police and paramilitary firing, during the last two months of protests over the land row and subsequent disruption of supply essential commodities due to protests in Jammu.
A nine-day long curfew was imposed on August 24 across the valley to foil separatists' rallies. BJP warns against delaying J&K polls.
"The elections should be held on time in Jammu and Kashmir. There should be no delay in the elections," party general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters here.
"Holding the elections on time can be better for Kashmir. Any delay would be construed as succumbing to separatists," Jaitley said accusing the Congress of attempting to put off polls not only in J&K but also in the entire country. He said the state was fast returning towards normalcy after the recent agitation.
While Jammu has already peaceful, "Kashmir is also coming back to track", Jaitley, who is incharge of elections for Jammu and Kashmir, said during a one-day convention of the BJP leadership here.
"The need is to go for increased political activity in Kashmir, which will widen the squeezed political space."
To a question about holding fresh delimitation of Assembly constituencies in J&K, he said "we want delimitation to end discrimination (with Jammu). However, we do not want delay of polls by going for delimitation.
"It can be done by the Assembly later," he said. Jaitley also ruled out alliance with any regional political party in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We do not have any ideological compatibility with any party. It is easy to go for alliance in any other state, but not in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Members of coordination committee of two factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference met at the residence of hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani to decide on the programme for the week starting on Monday.
"There shall be a general shutdown on Monday against the all-party meet called by the Election Commission of India to explore the possibility of elections in the state," Geelani, chairman of his faction of the Hurriyat, told media.
"The shutdown has also been called against the brutal killing of a youth in Nowhatta Saturday by the police and the decision of the government to detain and shift senior separatist leaders to jails outside the valley," Geelani said.
He asked people to resume normal activities of life on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to be followed by peaceful protests Friday this week.
Representatives of the two Hurriyat factions, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, traders federation, chambers of commerce and industry and government employees co-ordination committee attended the meeting.
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Elections are due in October in the state currently under governor's rule since July 11 when the previous Congress-led government was toppled after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pulled out of the alliance following differences over the Amarnath land row. The land row has had the state on the boil amid conflicting claims over a piece of forest land allotted to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that manages annual pilgrimage to a cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Nearly 50 people have died, mostly in police and paramilitary firing, during the last two months of protests over the land row and subsequent disruption of supply essential commodities due to protests in Jammu.
A nine-day long curfew was imposed on August 24 across the valley to foil separatists' rallies. BJP warns against delaying J&K polls.
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The BJP on Sunday favoured holding the Assembly elections on time, saying any delay would be construed as succumbing to separatists. "The elections should be held on time in Jammu and Kashmir. There should be no delay in the elections," party general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters here.
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He said the BJP would convey its stand on the issue at Monday's meeting of the Commission in New Delhi. "Holding the elections on time can be better for Kashmir. Any delay would be construed as succumbing to separatists," Jaitley said accusing the Congress of attempting to put off polls not only in J&K but also in the entire country. He said the state was fast returning towards normalcy after the recent agitation.
While Jammu has already peaceful, "Kashmir is also coming back to track", Jaitley, who is incharge of elections for Jammu and Kashmir, said during a one-day convention of the BJP leadership here.
"The need is to go for increased political activity in Kashmir, which will widen the squeezed political space."
To a question about holding fresh delimitation of Assembly constituencies in J&K, he said "we want delimitation to end discrimination (with Jammu). However, we do not want delay of polls by going for delimitation.
"It can be done by the Assembly later," he said. Jaitley also ruled out alliance with any regional political party in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We do not have any ideological compatibility with any party. It is easy to go for alliance in any other state, but not in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
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