Another Sarpanch has been killed in Sopore. This killing comes at a time when the five-phase Assembly elections have come to end in Jammu and Kashmir. The Sarpanch killing is an old trick played by the militants outfits to stop people from voting and getting involved in the election process in Kashmir. Last year too, there were several Sarpanch killings in the Valley that had triggered fear among the Panchayat leaders. The Sarpanchs had even given their resignation in fear of the killing and asked for security. But the State Government somehow motivated them to stay on their positions but rejected the appeal for security as it would call for a large number of security personnel to be employed which was not possible. All the separatist parties and the militant outfits have called for a total boycott of the elections saying Kashmir is a disputed territory. On 16th November, suspected militants had shot dead the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Sarpanch’s brother in Dogripora village of Pulwama District. While the grassroot representatives have always been soft targets of militants in the Valley, more than 12 Panchs and Sarpanches have been killed in Kashmir since Panchayat elections took place in 2011. Union Minister Jitendra Singh had accused the National Conference and the Congress leadership of misleading the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the issue of implementation of 73 and 74 Amendments in the State. “They did not implement these amendments as their implementation would mean the Panchs and Sarpanchs getting direct access to the central grants, thus it would have deprived these two parties from embezzling the central funds,” he had said. However, with such kinds of incidents taking place, the new government which will take reign in the State will have to think afresh about their safety and security. Whatever the blame game happening on these killings, it surely conveys that the militants want to instill fear in the minds of people so that the majority of the people remain away from grass-root governance.
