For the sixth phase tomorrow, Kashmiri Pandits will be able to cast their votes at two places in Delhi, Kashmir House on Prithviraj Road and the office of the Deputy Director Horticulture, Shalimar Bagh.
“I am not interested in voting and the entire process is too futile. The younger generation really doesn’t bother about this farce of an election process. We are anyway a minority and our votes don’t matter,” Rahul Pandita, a 32-year-old Pandit migrant living in Delhi for the last 14 years, said.
Meanwhile, an Internet campaign has been taken up by the Delhi-based Kashmiri Visthapit Sangarsh Samiti (KVSS), seeking “100 per cent KP voting” in absentia. The organisation is sending out strong worded emails, motivating people to check their names in the electoral list and fill in the M-forms, as their “inaction will only benefit the enemy”.
“With over 10 Kashmiri Pandit candidates contesting from various national parties, it’s a win-win situation for us,” S K Bhat, General Secretary, KVSS, said.
Habba Kadal and Amira Kadal are two areas in the Valley that have a strong Pandit population. As many as 10 Pandit candidates have filed their nominations from the Habba Kadal constituency, including one from the BJP, one from the Congress, one from the Lok Janshakti Party, and independent sitting MLA Raman Mattoo. Amira Kadal too has one Pandit candidate standing from the BJP, one from the People’s Democratic Front.
“Not many people are able to vote as the process of registration is not technically sound. Also, polling happens on working days in Delhi and most voters are employed here with the private sector and might not get a day off,” Bhat said.