J&K DDC polls: In fray today, two candidates seeking to put PSA, jail behind

At one of the entrances marking the Rohama constituency, that votes in the sixth phase of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Kashmir on Sunday, posters announce the need to vote for “unity, prosperity and dignity”, with photographs of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) leadership. Among the 13 in the fray are Shabir Ahmad Lone and Zahoor Ahmad Mir, both of whom were jailed under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) amidst the crackdown on political leadership following the scrapping of J&K’s special status last year.

Lone, 45, a National Conference worker since 1999 who had been elected sarpanch from Nadihal in 2018, was picked up on August 14, 2019, and taken to the nearest police station. “I was not sure what was going to happen or how long I would be kept in detention. They only told me that it was precautionary,” he said. Lone would spend the next six months in Srinagar Central Jail.

Describing his decision to contest the DDC polls, the first political activity in J&K since Article 370 was abrogated, as “reaffirming my faith in democracy”, Lone Saturday did the rounds of his constituency meeting people, with campaigning having got over. He says he had to contest for his people who were worried and needed political representation.