Farooq Abdullah writes to SEC, alleges ‘gross interference’ by govt in upcoming DDC polls
Srinagar: People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) President, Dr Farooq Abdullah has written to J&K Election Commissioner, K K Sharma alleging gross “interference in democracy” by the authorities ahead of the upcoming DDC and Panchayat elections.
A letter shot by Farooq to Sharma reads that the candidates put up by the PAGD, the united front of the Kashmir political parties to fight for the restoration of J&K’s special status, “are immediately whisked away to “secure locations in the name of security and confined to those “secure locations””.
” They are not allowed to canvass, they are completely out of touch with those from whom they are supposed to seek votes, ” the letter reads.
It further reads that security challenges are not new to J&K and the government has structures in place to ensure security of contestants irrespective of their ideology.
“(But) the current state of affairs in the realm of security is blatantly oriented towards providing security to a select few and confining others. This comes across more as an attempt to interfere in the democratic process than any real concern for the well being of the contestants, ” says Farooq in the letter.
As per the PAGD chief, “security cannot and should not be used as a tool or an excuse to interfere in the democratic process”.
“Providing security to a select few and literally interning the rest is a gross interference in democracy, ” Farooq alleges.