Poll turnout rattles Geelani

With people voting in hordes, belying fears of a low turnout in the aftermath of a successful spell of separatist agitation post-Amarnath, Syed Ali Shah Geelani put up a brave front by saying that polling was for bijli-sadak-paani issues and did not undercut the basic demand of ‘azadi’. Geelani, the hardliner said that people were voting for transformers to be installed and roads to be constructed. “You will see that the struggle for independence will continue after polls,” he claimed. Not long ago, with people taking to streets in big numbers over a prolonged agitation, Geelani was confident that people would stay away from poll booths and strip the exercise of credibility. But with those hopes dashed, the octogenarian sounds disappointed but refused to say he was let down by the people. In a tone tinged with fatalism, he said, “We should be careful not to let ourselves down.” Geelani, instead, said the government was claiming victory in a bout where it had tied the hands of its rival. “Those who would have convinced people against voting and for the basic demand of ‘azadi’ were put behind bars. There was curfew at the drop of a hat. If government was so sure, then why were leaders arrested,” he said. Appearing rattled over the turnout, he even questioned the genuineness of the voting percentage being claimed. Geelani has been in Delhi during the two phases of voting but will dash to Srinagar on Tuesday in the hope of taking charge of poll boycott. While the disappointment is writ large, the Hurriyat is staring at a prolonged spell of normalcy just as the installation of PDP-Congress regime in 2002 following high polling pushed separatists on the margins of Valley affairs. The short life of a revived agitation is a serious threat to the separatist camp led by Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah. Another changed dynamic gnawing on the minds of separatists is that the changed regime in Pakistan is appearing to withdraw from Kashmir affairs.