NEW DELHI, 5 May 2004 — Police in Kashmir registered a criminal case against the leader of the region’s ruling party for unveiling a Muslim woman voter during balloting.
The police acted after the federal Election Commission ordered that the People’s Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti face criminal charges for snatching off the voter’s veil in a polling station in Srinagar on April 26.
The state’s opposition National Conference party had threatened to boycott the remaining vote in the Indian-administered region unless action was taken against her.
Mehbooba in her defense said she lifted the veil from the face of the voter to establish her identity, arguing that many women used purdah to cast bogus votes.
“I welcome the Election Commission’s step because an inquiry will establish that the woman was a bogus voter,” she told reporters, claiming the woman was part of a “mobile voter” contingent raised by the opposition to cheat in the election.
“These people (the opposition) use poor and hapless women who put on burqas and are paid to become mobile voters,” Mufti said.
She accused the poll watchdog of ordering the police case against her only to “appease” the opposition National Conference, which she said was desperate over its failure to rig the elections.
Welcoming the charges, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said: “This is a right step in the right direction and that is what I call flowering of democracy.”
The incident shown on several television networks also angered women’s groups, who called for action against Mehbooba.
