Travel ban on poll view & democracy in Kashmir

Thursday this week was the day of polling in Baramulla parliamentary constituency comprising 15 assembly segements of north Kashmir’s three districts and shockingly a day before polling travel ban was imposed on Kashmir highway the only surface link connecting Kashmir with winter capital Jammu and other parts of the country. Knowing that employees of three north Kashmir districts presently working with move offices in Jammu the winter capital of the state whose number could be even in thousands might have tendency to come to their native places to cast their votes, the government should not have implemented the travel ban Wednesday this week. The restrictions on the civilian traffic on Kashmir highway have thus debarred the move employees of three north Kashmir districts from coming to their native places to cast their votes. Since the government had itself said that move employees can’t caste their votes at their places of postings by taking the route to postal balloting, the concerned election officials should have sought exemption of travel ban on move employees to ensure their travel to their native places in three north Kashmir districts for casting their votes.
Ironically the election authorities neither offered postal balloting facilities to the move employees nor sought exemption of move employees on travel ban for their travel to their native places of posting and this shows the concern of both the government and as well as the election authorities for the voting rights of their own employees. Denying an opportunity to vote to their own employees on one pretext or the other shows that the government itself does not tend to increase the participation of people in the polling on the polling day in Kashmir valley. The old aged people shown casting their votes are not offered any travel facility by the government upto the polling stations but locals of the concerned area offer them physical help upto the polling stations to ensure their participation in the polling. A government not concerned about the participation of their own employees in balloting can’t have any concern for increasing the participation of people in polling . Still there are apprehensions about the participation of move employees of rest of seven districts of Kashmir valley in rest of six phases of parliamentary elections in the state.