Stories abound of disillusioned youth in the border areas of Jammu & Kashmir. They feel let down by political parties who promised them the moon
On April 10, this time yet again, 26-year-old Maroof Hussain undertook a two kilometre foot journey to cast his vote. Unlike previous occasions, he pressed the NOTA option as a way to vent his anguish against the persistent political apathy by flag-bearers of democracy. “None of the political parties in the fray deserved to represent me because they don't care for people like us”, says Maroof Hussain, a resident of Dara Dullian village in Poonch district that touches the line of Control with Pakistan on its three sides. Maroof was hit by a stray bullet lodging in his lungs in July 1993 and is breathing with it since then.
“I was six at that time. The bullet could not be removed by doctors as I was too young for a complicated surgery”, he explains. Since then Maroof stopped living a normal life. No one has come forward to help him while he struggles to stay alive. Now doctors say his chances of survival are bleak. A report filed by Deputy Commissioner Poonch in November 2012 to State Human Rights Commission states that troops were firing negligently and a bullet hit his chest seriously injuring him. The report further stated that as Maroof was not injured due to any militancy-related incident he is not covered by relief rules. “What is the use of such representatives who are blind to such inhuman rulesIJ Why should I vote for them, what have the political parties done for meIJ” he asks.
In this mountain district, Maroof is not an isolated case. “This time I voted just for democracy with hope that it will deliver something that its representative have not been able to do so far”, says 40-year-old Afzal, a resident of Qasba in Haveli tehsil, who lost a leg to landmine blast near his house at the loC. Accompanied by his father, who too is a landmine amputee, he adds, “at the time of elections, they beg for votes thereafter forgetting us.”
While Afzal's home is on this side of fence, his farming land is on the other side of the fence; in Keerni village — which appears like an open prison with landmine-fields on one side and huge wall of concertina wires on the other. The fence — technically called Anti-Infiltration Obstacle System — fitted with motion sensors and electrified in the night was constructed by the Indian Army in 2003 to check illegal cross-border activities. Army men at the gate allow villagers in and out only after verifying ‘red-cards' issued by them, for a specified period.
Keerni villagers, however, are not the only one experiencing such hardships. The fence has been built many kilometres behind the zero-line leaving at least 50 villages fenced out from outside world. “Those who get killed in militancy-related violence are entitled to an ex gratia relief of five lakh rupees, whereas, those who are killed in border conflict get only one lakh rupees. Also, there is no fixed compensation amount for the survivors who lose limbs, eyes or suffer other bodily injuries”, local residents complain. In certain cases, MPs, MlAs and panchayat representatives provided some financial assistance to the conflict-affected persons but the latter term it as ‘alms’.
The outgoing Member of Parliament of Jammu-Poonch constituency, Mr Madan lal Sharma, claims that he had taken up the issues demanding a rise in the compensation amount to the victims of border conflict besides rent of the land under Army use, with the Prime Minister and the Union Minister for Defence. “In the past five years 6,000 families affected by border conflict were rehabilitated in my constituency. Each family was given a piece of land measuring five marlas and an amount of Rs70,000. Delay in some cases is due to State Government's inaction”, says Mr Sharma.
Though the residents of this forgotten region feel themselves as mere numbers in political parties' calculation, they still have an unwavering faith in democracy. Even though they were disillusioned with their local representative, despite little road connectivity about 60 per cent voters cast their votes this time. But the question remains: Whether their voices lost in wilderness so far, will get political and administrative attention leading to healing change in their bruised livesIJ