Srinagar: At a hotel in Srinagar’s Lal Mandi area, the bitter poll bickering of Kashmiri political workers, in the midst of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, takes a backseat.
Instead, area councillors and workers from the Congress, BJP, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Sajjad Lone-led People’s Conference (PC) huddle together in room number 202 to discuss the issues they face — threat to their lives and salaries not being paid.
Unable to campaign in the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency in violence-marred South Kashmir, party workers and area councillors are holed up in this hotel because they are on a militant hit-list.
“My party expected me to take part in door-to-door campaigning in these elections but I haven’t been able to do so,” says Safi, 37, a PDP sarpanch and party worker from Kokernag. She declined to give her full name.
“My husband even called me last month before the Lok Sabha polls in South Kashmir and told me to resign,” she told ThePrint. “He told me very clearly that ‘if you want to be shot (by the militants), then go for campaigning’.”
The Anantnag constituency is a key bastion of the PDP but it has been rocked by militancy in the past three years. The constituency is spread across Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts, and is one of three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley.
Its association with militancy has prompted the Election Commission to hold polls in three phases here — an unprecedented move in the country’s electoral history. So far, Anantnag has voted on 23 April, Kulgam voted on 29 April while Pulwama and Shopian are set to vote in the fifth phase on 6 May.
Several dozens of the political workers in this hotel are from this volatile area.
Also read: Mehbooba’s fate, fragile security on trial as volatile Anantnag readies to vote in 3 phases
Most confined to hotel since urban local body polls
Most of these local politicians have been staying at the hotel since the announcement of last year’s urban local body elections in September-October 2018. But this situation isn’t confined to just this hotel.
A number of hotels on this street were designated as temporary shelters for candidates and workers facing threats from militant groups but have now become like permanent homes.
The workers hold meetings, strategise campaigns and also raise their families here. The only time they step out is under police protection to meet other politicians or for shopping in Srinagar.
“The last time I went to my village was before the fidayeen attack in February,” says a BJP sarpanch from Pulwama. “I had to hold a gram panchayat meeting as directed by the state government. Fifteen people attended it and it was only made possible after I requested the SSP to accompany me.”
He added that there is “no guarantee” that he will be safe if he returns. He is unable to conduct any party work either.
“We have been confined to these hotel rooms for eight months and not a single state administration official has visited us,” says Mohammad Younis Mir, a People’s Conference councillor in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation from Batamaloo area. “We were promised security and accommodation. None of it happened.”
Others nod in agreement.
Mir shows a “hit-list” issued by suspected militant groups featuring his name. His home is barely five kilometres from the hotel but he hasn’t visited it in months. The hotel, he says, gets “suffocating” at times.
“The government must understand that we chose electoral politics over a boycott. They have to do more for us,” Mir says. “Not a single salary has been paid to me and we feel abandoned. This feels like a central jail.”
The “central jail” remark might seem like an exaggeration at first but not until one sees the security measures in place.
The high-security zone
The hotels are on a street that connects Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area to uptown Rajbagh and are guarded by both J&K police and the Central Armed Police Forces.
Visitors are directed to undergo a full body check and details are noted down in the hotel log book. The host then comes to the hotel lobby to receive their guests. Cameras, for now, are strictly forbidden.
A senior J&K police officer told ThePrint that the heightened security measures at the hotels are to safeguard the residents.
The food is provided for and so is the expenses incurred while staying at the hotel. However, smaller issues such as washing utensils in the bathrooms, less space to dry laundry, and lack of gardens to roam around can become a major issue on a bad day.
Safi, the PDP sarpanch from Kokernag, offers some solutions.
“We should be allowed political migration. We are facing threats to our lives and need to migrate to Srinagar permanently,” she says. “Under the migration policy, those who have migrated due to political upheavals in the past are paid Rs 15,000 a month. I have received dozens of letters criticising me for being part of mainstream politics. Why won’t the government do this for us?”
While Mir, Safi, many others like them have spent a minimum of eight months moving from one hotel to another, there are others who have been housed here for the past two years.
Sajid Ahmed Raina, a former ABVP member now a sarpanch in South Kashmir leaves no stone unturned to praise his party but is critical about the state administration. “We get a meagre Rs 2,500 per month and that too has not been paid to us in the last six months. Don’t we have the right to think about our future?” he asks.
Waseem Gul, who is the general secretary for the Congress in Srinagar constituency, has been living in one such hotel for the past several months. “The executive agencies and the police has not been cooperating with us at all. Where should we go from here?”
Also read: J&K police car used to distribute food packs at BJP rally in Anantnag, probe ordered
They have chosen the Indian occupation by joining so called ‘mainstream ‘ parties, to get the pennies they are getting and expecting to get. Losers