Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 5: Several political workers and Civil Society members met the Delimitation Commission here in Srinagar during its visit and expressed their concerns about the delimitation exercise.
The panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai met public delegations hailing from different parts of Kashmir.
The delegations raised concerns demanding major review of the changes suggested by the Commission before submitting the final draft.
Irfan Hafeez Lone, DDC member from Sangrama said that people must not be distracted from the fact that our Constitutional rights have been taken away from us. “The purpose of Delimitation is to redraw constituencies, but there were some arbitrary decisions made, such as keeping Anantnag with Rajouri and Poonch”, he said.
“We filed a complaint with the Commission, claiming that it was unjustified. The Commission’s interests have not been served, as things have been done against the public interest in a number of places. We have also brought up the fact that the tehsils were made in a haphazard manner”, he added.
Firdous Nabi of INC from Khansahab constituency said that he communicated to the Commission the grievances that they had received from the public in both written and verbal form. “We are hopeful that the Commission will look into the problems. They listened to our complaints and assured us that they would look into the problems. If the Commission is independent, as the BJP claims, our concerns will be considered”, he added.
Hamid Rather, an activist form Pattan who met the Commission said that Pattan has been divided into two and turned into a hanging constituency. “Some areas have been linked to Pattan despite the fact that they lack geographic connectivity, administrative coordination, or popular demand”, he said.
“I presented all of these aspects to the committee so that they could consider them. We took part in the delimitation process and presented our objections and aspirations; now it is up to them to put them into action”, he added.
Syed Zeeshan, Advocate and public representative told Excelsior that it is unfortunate that Pooch is being aligned with Anantnag, which is not compatible. “It took me 20 hours to reach Srinagar and I am yet to reach Anantnag which is now my constituency. It is unnatural to put Poonch with Anantnag,” he added.
“I filed the objections and was called here. But after reaching here in SKICC Srinagar, what exactly is happening is that I am being allowed to enter inside but three of my colleagues are not being allowed. Why? Is there any malicious intent on the part of this Delimitation Commission?” he asked.
Some of the delegations were not allowed to meet the Commission. “We have been waiting here for hours, but we were not allowed despite the invitation. This whole process is a sham and an injustice to Kashmir,” a delegation from South Kashmir’s Kulgam said.
Iqbal Nabi, a DDC member from the Tangmarg area of North Kashmir, said that he wanted the commission to retain the name of Gulmarg constituency, which is important and has been renamed. “Also, an area Khoie should be kept with Sopore instead of Tangmarg due to connectivity issue,” he added.
Sanaullah Khan, a DDC member from Lolab area of Kupwara, said that he suggested to the Commission that there should be no changes made to the commission’s last draft. “I hope they are not misled and I am, in fact, happy that they have done a fine job in the demarcation of the constituency as far as only Kupwara is concerned,” Khan said.
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