Srinagar, Oct 2: A day after Unified Headquarters (UHQ) meeting decided that all vulnerable areas in the state would be sanitized with the cooperation of Army to ensure safety of Panchs and Sarpanchs, nine Panchayat members on Tuesday tendered their resignation in Balhama area of Rafiabad in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
Talking to Greater Kashmir Sarpanch advocate Tariq Ahmad Khan said, “We handed over our resignations to Block Development Officer (BDO) Balhama. Besides me, eight other Panchs also handed over their resignations to the BDO,” he added.
Khan said present government had disappointed them. “We are being used as scapegoats,” he said. “Despite our struggle we were not given any powers. Instead we have become soft targets. We don’t want to put our lives at stake for nothing.”
Khan said that they fought the elections on nonpartisan basis but mainstream parties owning Sarpanchs and Panchs in the later stage complicated the issue and made them “vulnerable.” “Since the day we have been elected we are living under constant fear and threat. We want to come out of it and tendering our resignations is a step towards it.”
Others who resigned are Panchs: Shabir Ahmad Khan, Ghulam Nabi Lone, Ghulam Hassan Lone, Muhammad Anwar Mir, Haseena Bagum, Sakina Begum, Mubeena Begum and Muhammad Yasin Khan.
Pertinently, around 80 Sarpanchs and Panchs had tendered their resignations in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district last month after the killing of two Panchayat representatives in the area.
In the past two years gunmen have killed five Panchayat representatives while several others have been wounded in separate attacks.
The empowerment of Panchayats has become a bone of contention between ruling alliance partners with Congress seeking incorporation of 73rd and 74th amendments in the state and National Conference opposing it.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Oct 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT
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