No forcing boycott: Hurriyat

The Hurriyat Conference today said they would not go out and try to enforce their boycott call on polling day. 8216;8216;We won8217;t commit any offence. But if stopping anybody from casting vote is an offence, forcing them to vote against their will too is a crime,8217;8217; said Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat.

8216;8216;We will not enforce our decision of non-participation of voters but the Government should not use force to push people to vote.8217;8217; He said if people come out of their free will and vote, 8216;8216;we have no problems8217;8217;.

According to Gani Bhat, the element of coercion by security forces makes these elections unfair and a sham. 8216;8216;If people respond to our boycott call, we will thank them. If they are forced by security forces to vote, we will again say thank you. Because the coercion would make it clear this was never a democratic but a military exercise.8221;