All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) on Saturday said that their participation in upcoming panchayat polls will be apolitical. AJKPC further added that the political parties should not poke their nose in community institutions.
Addressing media persons here in a local hotel, AJKPC Chairman Shafiq Mir said that panchayats are just community institutions to look after the local developmental and other civil affairs of the village. He said some of the Panches and Sarpanches were attacked in the past by gunmen because of “some misunderstanding”. Mir asked the panchayat members to remain away from all political parties and political activities and instead focus only on the developmental issues of their respective villages. “We have nothing to do with any kind of politics in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We are not an institution like assembly to make laws. Our role is only to monitor the developmental activities in our respective villages,” said Mir.
“We have nothing to do with any kind of politics. Today, we also organized a day long convention and urged upon the Governor administration to announce holding of panchayati raj institution elections on non-party and non-political basis,” he said.
Mir said that a wrong impression has been created that Panchayats are political institutions. “The fact is that it is a community institution which is in place in the villages since ages and it has nothing to do with any kind of politics,” he said. “This impression has been created due to the interference of political parties in such institutions.”
Mir said due to the non participation of good and honest people in panchayat institutions, “a mafia has taken over the whole system from top to bottom with political patronage and they don’t want honest people to come in such institutions who can block their corrupt practices”.
AJKPC also appealed to the authorities to strengthen the Panchayat Act and bring it at par with the Maharashtra and Karnataka models “so that the democracy is brought at grassroots level”.