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Constituency Profile: Militants have instilled fear among Tral voters

Mohammad Subhan Bhat's family has had to pay a heavy price for supporting the ruling National Conference.

Based in the south Kashmir town of Tral in Pulwama district, it has lost three of its members to militants' bullets in the last 12 years.

Before the eruption of militancy, Tral was regarded as a NC bastion, but now its activists are a threatened lot.

Fear grips this family every time some stranger calls on them. Family members rush to the second floor of their home and bolt all possible entry points.

The presence of armed Jammu and Kashmir police personnel does nothing to alleviate their fears. Experience has taught them a tragic lesson.

The first to be killed was the head of the family Mohammad Subhan Bhat, a veteran NC leader and legislator. "He was a popular leader in this area. He always believed in democracy and elections."

"One night in April 1991, militants came and killed him outside the shrine nearby where he was offering prayers," said Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, eldest son of Subhan Bhat. "My father was not scared of militant threats. In fact, he wanted arms to fight them."

After the elder Bhat's death, militants visited the family again in October 1995 and abducted Ashraf''s younger brother Showkat Ahmad.

"They came inside our house and told my brother who was standing on the verandah to accompany them. We cried and pleaded with them. Showkat's body was later recovered by the police," said Ashraf.

His other brother Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, who was tipped to contest the forthcoming assembly elections from Tral constituency, was gunned down by militants in August. Fayaz was an executive magistrate of the area.

"The militants fired dozens of rounds at his car killing him along with his police guard on the spot," said Ashraf, tears rolling down his eyes.

"News had appeared in a local paper that Fayaz was the prospective candidate of the ruling party. The local NC leaders, we were later told, had recommended his name to the leadership in Srinagar. But we had no prior information," Ashraf explained.

The frightened Bhat family has reasons to be nervous, but the over all situation in the constituency is no better.

"We will not vote. We have suffered a lot. We are subjected to harassment by the security forces and the police," said a resident Ali Mohammad. "The 1996 polls brought no relief and we continue to be harassed."

A police constable alleged that his son Ashiq Hussain was picked up by the special operations group (SOG) of the state police and later killed in custody. "He was innocent. I don't know why they killed him. The state human rights commission conducted an enquiry and found my son was innocent," said Mohammad Yusuf.

"Whenever militants attack, security forces retaliate by beating up innocent bystanders. Last year, a portion of the market was torched," said a youth Bilal Ahmad who added, "Now, the security forces are forcing us to get photo identity cards."

Mohammad Shaban, a shopkeeper, does not think elections are a solution to the problem. "Politicians remember us only during elections. Then you don't see them," he said.

"I voted in 1996 despite grave threats. But what happened, our area continues to suffer. I think this issue needs to be resolved peacefully once and for all," said Ghulam Rasool, a bystander

A police officer admitted that the situation in Tral and adjoining areas was tense. "The area is infested with militants. But we will deploy sufficient troops to instill confidence among voters," the officer told rediff.com.

But people make no effort to hide their indifference and desperation.

"I pray to Allah that a bomb should fall on Kashmir so that we are spared the agony of dying by inches," said Mohammad Ashraf Bhat.

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