Srinagar: Weeks after local body polls ended successfully without any major incident of violence, more than three dozen panches and sarpanches claim to have received phone calls from militant groups threatening them with beheading.
The militants have allegedly demanded that the panches and sarpanches resign from their posts or face the consequences of choosing to be in mainstream politics.
Government officials said, as a result, last week they received resignation letters from 8-10 panches and sarpanches from the Budgam region of Jammu and Kashmir. A source pegged the figure at 12. The resignations have, however, not been accepted.
According to the J&K Police, an FIR has been registered in the matter against unknown persons.
Meanwhile, associations representing the elected representatives demanded that bullet-proof vehicles and security personnel be provided to guard them at all times.
“Some panches and sarpanches received threat calls over voice over protocol. We have received complaints in this regard and one FIR has been filed. Multiple people have been threatened, but not all have lodged complaints but we have begun investigation into the FIR that has been filed so far,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Budgam, Amod Nagpure.
The SSP said the police were trying to establish whether the calls were made by militants based in J&K or Pakistan. The police are also trying to ascertain which militant group was behind these calls.
In one of the threatening phone calls, heard by ThePrint, a person claiming to be a militant is heard telling a panch, “Your head will hang if you do not resign.”
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‘Trying to find ways to ensure security of panches, sarpanches’
Majid Manzoor, Block Development Officer of Narbal in Budgam, said, “Around 8-10 people have submitted their resignations but none of the resignations have been accepted.
“It is not easy to accept resignations. Everyone knows the effort that was put in by both UT and central government authorities to conduct the elections. We are trying to find ways to ensure the security of elected representatives who have been threatened,” he said.
Hundreds of panches and sarpanches as well as councilors who had emerged victorious in the 2018 urban local body polls are already living in various government facilities and private hotels in Srinagar because of threat from militant groups.
The hotels also house political activists and even those candidates who lost the elections in 2018.
In the maiden District Development Council polls, held late last year, hundreds of candidates were again provided security and accommodation in Srinagar.
Asha Parveen, a sarpanch from Budgam, has been staying in one such hotel in Srinagar and travels to her home district for work. She allegedly received two phone calls from militants claiming to be based in Kashmir.
“He asked me to resign in five days or face consequences. He said they will cut me into pieces if I continue to work as a sarpanch. I even told them that I was not associated with BJP but they didn’t seem to care,” said Asha, who has submitted her resignation.
She added the police have provided her with security personnel to guard her and her family at all times.
‘Situation is grim’
Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, sarpanch in Beerwah, Budgam, and secretary of the J&K Panchayat Conference, said the association has received complaints from 41 panches and sarpanches about threatening phone calls.
“I have been told they (militants) did not have my phone number. I am not sure why the Narbal and Beerwah block is being specifically targeted, but the situation is grim,” said Khan.
Ghulam Mohideen, general secretary of the association, said the elected representatives need bullet-proof vehicles and police personnel to guard them.
The threat calls come against the backdrop of an escalation in violence in J&K’s summer capital Srinagar, where two security personnel and a local businessman were killed last month.
A senior police officer said that the arrival of “magnet attached IEDs” or sticky bombs is also a “major concern for the security establishment”.
“More than 25-30 officials from police and administration face threats from militants and particularly the IEDs. They have been advised to curtail their field visit,” added the officer.
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