J&K Police Want Change in Poll Timing in South Kashmir as Militancy Hotbed is Set to Vote in 3 Phases

Srinagar: After completing two phases of Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the state police has requested Election Commission to change the poll timings in the volatile south Kashmir, which is going to polls in three phases for the first time. The first phase is set to be held on Tuesday.

J&K's Chief Election Officer Shailendra Kumar, while announcing the voter turnout for phase two, said that police has requested for change in poll timing.

The polling starts at 7 am and culminates at 6 pm. However, police want voting to being one to two hours before the scheduled time due to threat of violence. They said that by the time the polling staff will return in the evening, the area will become sensitive and may pose a threat to staff's safety.

“We have seen in the past that polling staff is targeted at the time of return. So, we want polling to end before it gets dark,” said a top police official on condition of anonymity.

Even during the first phase of elections, held in north Kashmir on April 11, a teenager was killed in Langate area of Kupwara district after stones were thrown on a polling party in the evening.

Police is of the opinion that such incidents can be controlled during the daylight.

“In the dark, when a polling party is pelted with stones, the security forces panic more and they can’t do much to save the staff's lives. In a number of cases, forces have to resort to firing,” the police official said.

In the third phase of elections, Anantnag district will be going to polls. Besides the threat of stone pelting and civilian protests, police official said, there are strong inputs of a militant attack in south Kashmir, which remains a militancy hotbed.

“There are inputs that militants are trying to disrupt the poll process. The change in timing will also help the forces to thwart any militant attack,” the police official told News18.

In 2017, following the violence in Srinagar by-elections, Anantnag polls were postponed and later cancelled owing to anticipation of law and order problems. Intelligence agencies have been giving inputs to the agencies that “some separatist elements are trying to create problems during the polling”.

Meanwhile, the state authorities are also mulling to club some polling stations in the area prone to violence. “In some areas, we are requesting Election Commission to club the polling booth to reduce the possibility of any untoward incident,” said a state official.