Concerns Raised Before Delimitation Commission During J&K Visit, Certain Delegations Kept out

Srinagar: Several groups of grassroot political representatives and civil society members expressed their concerns about the delimitation exercise before the Delimitation Commission during the group’s visit to Srinagar city on Tuesday.

The panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai met public delegations hailing from all the districts of the Kashmir division. The meetings came a day after the panel met public delegations in the Jammu division. 

Outside the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC) complex, where the commission held today’s meetings, several delegations raised concerns demanding major review of the changes suggested by the commission before submitting the final draft. 

Some of the delegations questioned the exercise after they were not allowed to meet the commission. “We have been waiting here for hours, but we were not allowed despite the invitation. This whole process is a sham and an injustice to Kashmir,” a delegation from South Kashmir’s Kulgam said. 

Iqbal Nabi, a DDC member from the Tangmarg area of North Kashmir, said that his delegation was heard “carefully” by the commission. “We wanted the commission to retain the name of Gulmarg constituency, which is important and has been renamed. Also, an area Khoie should be kept with Sopore instead of Tangmarg due to connectivity issue,” Iqbal said. 

A social activist from North Kashmir’s Pattan area, Hamid Rather, told NewsClick that he submitted four suggestions and objections before the commission citing arguments based on geographical homogeneity and administrative convenience. 

“The delimitation of a constituency should be scientific and pragmatic. I argued before the commission and informed them about some of the changes that will not help people for whom the whole exercise is being carried,” Hamid said. 

Sanaullah Khan, a DDC member from Lolab area of Kupwara, told NewsClick that he suggested to the commission that there should be no changes made to the commission’s last draft. “I hope they are not misled and I am, in fact, happy that they have done a fine job in the demarcation of the constituency as far as only Kupwara is concerned,” Khan said. 

The Delimitation Commission was set up in March 2020 and tasked to redraw the boundaries of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir after it was downsized into a union territory. Along with statehood, Kashmir lost its special status granted by provisions under Article 370 and 35A, which were struck down in what many termed a harsh move against the region on August 5, 2019.

The commission has come under severe criticism since its suggested changes the first time were, according to the regional political parties, allegedly aimed to favour Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), especially in Jammu. 

The Indian National Congress held a peaceful protest against the commission’s visit to Jammu on Monday, terming it an “eye-wash”. The party members, along with other regional politicians, have called the draft report “biased” and a “denial of opportunity” to the Opposition. 

“The delimitation has not followed any parametres, whether it’s population, terrain or means of communication. We were expecting that an extra seat will be added to ease public issues, but the problems were increased by adding Anantnag to Rajouri and Poonch. We were not given much time, and it is apparent that they will only do what the BJP wants them to do,” Congress’ G A Mir said. 

Taranjit Singh Tony, who is a DDC member from Suchetgarh, accused the commission of not maintaining the “sanctity of being a constitutional body”.

“The Delimitation Commission has shown indiscretion by holding such a wasteful exercise, especially in the case of redrawing the Lok Sabha Constituencies as not a single decision that was carried out is in line with the set guidelines. Rather, every proposed change shows ineptness of the aforesaid commission or its helplessness to saying no to the orders coming from the BJP High Command,” Tony alleged.