Eight civilians were killed and several others injured on Sunday in firing by security forces as mobs tried to attack some polling stations in Srinagar parliamentary constituency.
Only seven per cent votes were polled on Sunday - the lowest voter turnout since a separatist campaign erupted in Jammu and Kashmir 27 years ago.
The civilians were killed when security forces opened fire on a group of such protesters in Dalwan village in Budgam district.
At least 70 polling stations were shut due to the violence, while at some stations voting machines were set ablaze by the protesters. He said the school building, which was designated as a polling station, suffered partial damage in the incident before the flames were doused.
The by-election was held in the key city of Srinagar to fill a vacant seat in India's lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha.
Tasaduq, a famed cinematographer (Omkara), joined the party in the presence of his sister and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who was there along with her cabinet and party colleagues in January.
"Elections should have been peaceful. This is the time that people of all shades of opinion in the state should come together and help stop this cycle of violence and bloodshed, which unfortunately has plagued Jammu and Kashmir for three decades now", PTI reported.
Hillary Clinton: I would have taken on Assad
Clinton soon waded back into foreign policy, demanding payback for the chemical attack that claimed at least 70 lives in Syria on Tuesday.
Following the escalation of violence on Sunday, internet services have been suspended in Kashmir Valley till the Anantnag by-polls on April 12. Counting of votes will be held on April 15. Kashmir, part of India's only Muslim-majority state, witnessed deadly protests after a well-known separatist militant was killed a year ago.
"Adequate deployment has been made to maintain law and order", a senior police official said here.
At least 29 armed militants, mostly locals, have died fighting government forces this year. The Indian government also sent in 20,000 additional paramilitaries to augment the 500,000 soldiers deployed there. Large number of voters in most of the areas chose to give polling a miss, even in places like Ichgam, Maloora and Budgam which have traditionally seen high turnout. "It is the failure of State Government, Centre and Election Commission".
"Our MLA can not do anything, what will the MP do now", said Ghulam Ahmad Thokar, of Bogur village in Budgam, where around 60 people out of 1,800 had voted. Another person was killed in Barsoo in Ganderbal district.
Complete shutdown was observed against the sham Indian parliamentary elections, KMS reported.
Nearly entire Hurriyet leadership including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Aasiya Andrabi and Nayeem Ahmed Khan is either in jails or under house detention. Public transport was off the roads, while private transport was minimal. We alert the government in the all-party meeting ahead of the by-polls about the terror atmosphere in Kashmir.
Comments