Srinagar, July 04: Free and fair assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir can take place only if the voters list is updated and identity cards issued, a human rights activist said today.
Tapan K Bose, who is also co-chief election commissioner of the abandoned election commission announced by Hurriyat Conference, said a majority of people in the state are not interested in the assembly polls. "We have found that most people are negative towards the elections to the J&K legislative assembly. They are enthusiastic about the independent election commission" of the Hurriyat Conference, he told reporters. Contesting the election commission's claim that electoral rolls have been updated and computerised, Bose said "almost every one in the valley claims that the voters list has not been properly revised since 1983. It is claimed that the present voters list contains names of thousands of dead persons and omits the names of thousands of new voters".
Refuting reports that he has asked people to participate in the elections, Bose, who is visiting many places in the Valley, said the main purpose of his visit was to ascertain people's reaction to the proposed elections to the assembly and finding out the truth about the revision of electoral rolls. Bureau Report