World can come, see J&K polls: EC

The CEC’s announcement is part of a carefully thought-out stategy by New Delhi which seeks to inspire confidence in the Jammu and Kashmir electorate and ensure a decent voter turnout in a ‘‘free and fair election’’ that it knows will be keenly watched across the world.

Also, the Commission has ‘‘for the first time in the history of elections in India decided that the voter slips will be issued by the election machinery and not by the political parties,’’ the CEC said.

Significantly, New Delhi has informally discussed its plans with key nations in the international community and received reassuring endorsement over its intentions, highly placed sources here said. Part of the strategy is to allow all diplomats stationed in the capital, except those from the Pakistan High Commission, access to the Valley and other parts of the state during the elections.

Similarly, the foreign media (again, except for journalists from Pakistan), which has been free to travel in Kashmir for some years now, will have unhindered access to reporting on the elections.

The catch, however, is that these diplomats and media will not be allowed to flaunt their pretended or real status of being ‘‘election observers’’ for any foreign organisation or country. They can freely travel within Kashmir as individuals, the sources said.

The other exception is that foreign human rights groups like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch will also not be allowed into the state. On the other hand, New Delhi has no problems if National Human Rights Commission sends observers to watch proceedings in the Valley, just like the NHRC did recently in Gujarat.

New Delhi’s strategy to ‘‘open’’ Kashmir to the foreign community stems from the belief that repressing information can only lead to ‘‘rumour-mongering rather than reporting.’’ Lyngdoh said that foreigners will not be invited by the EC and cannot be part of the ‘‘official observer team,’’ a job that will go to ‘‘absolutely handpicked people, who are not afraid of anybody, especially any government.’’

These observers, as per law, will be government officers from the civil services, he said. ‘‘They (observers) will be our eyes and ears. They will not only observe elections but also the conditions for a proper polls are putn place on the ground,’’ he said.

Lyngdoh said that electronic voting machines will be introduced to act as a deterrent in booth capturing and rigging. ‘‘We have already procured 8,000 voting machines. We are also taking measures to ensure that proper training is imparted to people for their use,’’ he said.

He also talked about introduction of special identity cards which will be printed on the paper used for the currency.

‘‘Voters who wish to have an ID card need to provide us with two pictures and the cards will be issued after proper inquiry and verfication by the concerned tehsildars,’’ he said. However, he did not elaborate whether these special IDs were mandatory.

Lyngdoh also vowed to clean the electoral rolls which, he said, were unsatisfactory. ‘‘Our electoral roll carried even the names of deceased people,’’ he said. ‘‘We were told that the Panchayat electoral rolls were much better so we will make a comparison to that as well’’. He said that the Commission has nearly computerised the electoral rolls with the help of Utter Pradesh Urdu Academy.

Referring to the apprehensions by various political parties here, Lyngdoh said the EC has issued directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which has directed the state government to ensure security of political workers and candidates. ‘‘The political parties are much more concerned about lack of security,’’ he said. ‘‘We were told that the Government is planning to use STF (Special Task Force) and NDF (National Defence Force), who are backed by renegades. This is their fear. Many (activists of political parties) have recieved threats as well.’’

Stressing on a coercion-free poll, Lyngdoh said that ‘‘no Indian is suppossed to be to be compelled to vote. It amounts to electoral offence and (offenders) will have to be prosecuted.’’

He said that ‘‘uniformed forces will be expected only to reassure voters and creat conditions where they can vote and there is no need to provide vehicles or escort the voters.’’