Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR, July 26: Villagers of a South Kashmir town Wednesday protested against alleged harassment by the local Sarpanch or head of the village council, a third such reported instance in Kashmir where Panchayat polls held last year were considered an historic event for increasing the involvement of ordinary people in the decision-making process.
People from Dupatyar village blocked roads to protest against their Sarpanch who, they said, was joined by the Army in harassing them.
“Last night the Sarpanch informed the Army at a nearby camp about the presence of some militants in the area and soon a huge posse of soldiers arrived and cordoned off the entire village and launched massive searches,” the villagers told a local newspaper Greater Kashmir.
“Even women and children were asked to come out of their houses and assemble outside till Sehri time (meals before fast begin at dawn in Ramadhan).”
The villagers said their attempts to convince the Army soldiers that the Sarpanch was “misleading them” went in vain. “They raided each and every house in the village before dawn,” they said while accusing their village head of spreading “a reign of terror” in the village.
‘Costly Affair’
Last year, elections for grassroots level representatives were widely considered an historic event in Kashmir by those who advocated for decentralisation of powers and thus emancipation of the common masses.
A humongous participation by villagers in the 2011 polls, besides the 2008 elections, was also projected by many as ‘separatists shown the door’ decision in Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people have died after an anti-India rebellion started two decades ago and calls by separatist to boycott all elections often had an impact.
Now, as authorities promise more empowerment of the panchayats, a perception is gaining ground that in Kashmir, which has witnessed a systemic collapse in the past two decades, power within the neighbourhoods could still prove to be disappointing.
“We say that Democracy is finding its roots, but we should have waited till peace sunk in fully and things gradually came back to their original form,” an observer said.
But many others differ with this contention saying things change for better, the thing that it was initiated was “an achievement in itself”.
‘Series and Coming’
The protesters in Dupatyar said, “In our village only the kith and kin of the Sarpanch get benefits under NREGA, IAY and even ration cards, and whosoever dares to raise voice is dealt with a heavy hand.”
This is not for the first time that Sarpanches and Panches have been accused of harassment or a high-handed attitude by their respective villagers.
On June 29, a labourer Abdul Masjid Thakker and his wife was stripped in front of villagers and paraded by Sarpanch Aslam Khan and a group of his supporters in Central Kashmir’s Kotabal village. The incident, a rare one in this Muslim-majority region, sent shock waves across all quarters.
Only two weeks ago, a group of people hailing from border villages of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district held a demonstration in Srinagar to protest against their local elected representatives and accused them of graft in distribution of facilities provided by the government.
“They charge us between Rs 1600 and Rs 2500 for each solar light instead of Rs 750, a rate approved by the government,” they said while demanding action against the Sarpanch and the Panches.
The villagers also accused them of misappropriation of funds allotted under centrally sponsored employment schemes.
