Voters in a Kashmir village decide to boycott polls

Doda, Apr 23 (ANI): Voters in a remote village, about 1200 in number, have decided to boycott elections in Kashmir. They are angry particularly over the government's indifference to 80 deaf and dumb villagers.

The village is located over 250 km from Jammu, with last 60 km drive on an 'unmotorable' road, followed by 14 km of trekking on slippery mountainous terrain.

The villagers believe that no State Government has ever done anything for them especially the deaf and dumb people in the village.

"We are boycotting the elections because there are 80 deaf and dumb people in the village. All the governments that have been in the state have not done anything for them. We have 1200 voters and we will all boycott the elections," said Mohammed Hanif, the chief of the village.

The villagers want that the pension to the deaf and the dumb should be increased. They think that the reason for neglect could also be their being Gujjars.

"They are not giving any facilities thinking that we are Gujjars. So, we are boycotting the elections," said Jaan Mohammed, a villager.

The problems for this village does not end here. The village has no road. There is no school in the village and the villagers do not have access to any medical facilities either.

As a protest, the villagers have decided not to exercise their voting right. By Tahir Nadeem Khan (ANI)