Panchayat members sitting ducks for militants in Kashmir

The killing of three sarpanchs in Kashmir this month has once again brought to the fore that local body representatives, who were expected to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of a ‘Naya Kashmir’, are sitting ducks for militants.

Mohammad Yaqub Dar, sarpanch of Kolpora area of Kulgam, Sameer Ahmad Bhat sarpanch of Khnomoh on outskirts of Srinagar and Shabir Ahmad Mir of Audoora in Kulgam, were shot dead by militants outside their residences on March 2, 9 and 11 respectively.

The panchayat members in Kashmir have been receiving militant threats for years and a good number of them have been provided with secure accommodation in Srinagar and other district headquarters by the government.

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Some of them have even been provided personal security officers (PSOs) but 90 per cent are without any security. Police said that these sarpanchs provided with secured accommodation in Srinagar and other district headquarters leave their houses without informing them due to which they become targets of militants.

"The Sarpanch killed yesterday was given a hotel accommodation in Srinagar, but he left without informing the police. We regret it,” Kashmir police chief, Vijay Kumar said.

However, these local body representatives, who were touted as the new grassroot leaders in the Valley, have a different take on this. They say it is not possible for them to remain confined in a single room away from their families for a long time.

“We have not been elected to remain holed up in hotel rooms. People, who have voted for us, have expectations from us and if we are not allowed to go to our constituencies, what was the need for such elections?” asked a sarpanch from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

He said that keeping them confined to hotel rooms has also affected their earnings and families. “We are not able to attend our work and families. We were promised sky and moon when we contested elections despite threats from the militants. But alas, in return we got nothing,” he rued.

Evers since the panchayat elections were held for the first time in 2011 after a gap of nearly three decades, a few dozen panchayat members have been killed by the militants. However, the targets on sarpanchs intensified after 2018 panchayat polls.

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