Gurez: Situated bang on the Line of Control separating India and Pakistan, the enchanting and sparsely populated constituency of Gurez is going to vote in the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir elections on November 25. Nestled among high mountains and with Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) on three sides, Gurez is connected to the rest of India from only one side.
Even though the area is a tough place to reside, Gurez residents have a record of coming out in large numbers to exercise their franchise unlike many other parts of Kashmir Valley. The area is cutoff from India for almost six months following heavy snowfall and the residents, Army and Border Security Force units situated at the LoC have to stock their ration and other essential items well in advance before the weather shuts down the only road link which passes through high passes.
Gurez, which is a part of Bandipora district, is made up of small villages with many of them having just a few houses but every where the elections fever was at its peak. Even though Bandipora is not known for huge turnout but Gurez is an exception.
Gurez residents, who speak Shina language which is different from Kashmiri, have been enthusiastic participants in the electoral process and according to official records 74.02 per cent of the voters had come out to exercise their franchise during the 2008 elections. Even during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Gurez witnessed 48.28 per cent voting whereas the overall voting was just 39.6 in the Baramulla parliamentary constituency under which the Tehsil falls.
Gurez constituency has three blocks - Dawar, Tilel and Bagtore - and there is no effect of the boycott call given by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Even though the villages get just six hours of power and mobile connectivity is also extremely poor, its residents say they are not interested in what the Hurriyat says and will use their democratic rights as they are Indians.
Despite the temperature already going below the zero degree Celsius mark, icy winds blowing across the valley and snowfall starting, people say that they will come out in large numbers on November 25 to cast their votes.
Even at Chorwan village which is right on the LoC and within the firing range of Pakistani small arms, workers of both the Congress and National Conference were seem campaigning and getting enthusiastic response. The party workers said that they never faced any difficulty during the campaign and credited the voters of Gurez for it.
Several other villages of Gurez, too, are situated just a few meters inside the LoC and while there is a constant threat of shelling from the Pakistani side, the area has been peaceful ever since the 2003 ceasefire. There have been occasional exchanges of small arms fire though.
The area used to be prone to infiltration but Army and BSF units say they have been able to put an end to it and there is no terror activity in the area.
It is direct fight between National Conference candidate and Minister of State for Health and Medical Education Nazir Ahmad Gurezi and Congress candidate Fakir Khan with the Peoples Democratic Party's Muhammad Ismail trying to ensure a triangular fight.
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