(21 Sep 1996) Eng/Hindi/Nat
One person was killed and at least 24 injured in a grenade attack on a polling station in Indian-administered Kashmir Saturday.
The attack, which took place in the town of Tulmulla, 25 kilometres from the capital of Srinagar, came during the legislative elections being conducted in the troubled state.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Indian authorities believe it was the work of insurgents who have vowed to disrupt the elections.
Voting in Srinagar was never going to be peaceful.
The Kashmiri capital resembled an occupied city as thousands of soldiers and police officers patrolled the streets, forcing people to vote in the state assembly elections.
The capital has been at the centre of nearly a decade of emergency rule and insurgency.
Security personnel had been expecting protests and confrontations - and on Saturday those fears were fulfilled.
Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas and used truncheons against rock-throwing protesters on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Hundreds of people took to the streets calling for a "Free Kashmir", clashing with Indian troops.
Militants had called for a boycott of the election, and most Srinagar residents remained in their homes, leaving polling stations deserted.
SOUNDBITE: (Hindi)
We were in our beds this morning when they banged on our doors. They (security) told us there is a crack down and we had to come outside.
SUPER CAPTION: Voter
A grenade fired at a crowded polling station killed one person and injured 24 was the worst of a dozen attacks blamed on separatist attacks, according to police.
Four children were among the injured taken to the Shair Kashmir hospital after the incident.
Six others were injured in other bomb and grenade attacks.
An eyewitness spoke of the grenade attack on the polling station.
SOUNDBITE: (Hindi)
"About 100 votes had been cast. Then the army cordoned off the area and just then there was a huge explosion. We don't know if it was a mine or grenade."
SUPER CAPTION: Eyewitness
Feelings were running high as people took to the streets to demonstrate.
Two previous rounds of voting were held this month in an election staggered to allow troops time to deploy across the mountainous region.
Three people were killed during the first round of voting on September 7th.
On Saturday, it was clear that the elections in Srinagar had flopped with a low voter turnout.
Most people appeared to be staying indoors and polling stations were deserted in Srinagar, although voter turnout was better in surrounding rural areas.
The central government has administered Kashmir since the uprising began in 1989.
It hopes reconstituting local government will be the beginning of a return to peace after seven years of war and some 14,500 deaths.
But many in Srinagar see the vote as a charade imposed by outsiders.
Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference Party, the man most likely to head a civilian administration, cast his vote on Saturday.
Bhim Singh, president of the Panther Party, accused central government officials of using the vote to install Farooq Abdullah, a moderate Muslim, as the state's leader.
Abdullah denied there was any secret deal.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
I think one of the things I have never done is had any secret deals, I'm always straight forward. We have had no secret deals. I am only going to go if elected by the people to the central government and put our demands before them.
SUPER CAPTION: Farooq Abdullah
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