Bashir Ahmad Khan, 55, from this hilly village of Pahalgam woke up early and braving the chill walked towards a polling booth set up at the government high school.
Khan along with several others from Gujjar and Pahari community has been living in the Dhokas (mud-shelters) here for generations.
The community fears eviction from the forest land they live and graze their livestock in.
“Our community has been voting in every election; Parliament, Assembly, Panchayat as we only believe in putting forward our voice through democratic means,” said Khan.
He said they have again turned up to vote in DDC elections to secure their rights.
“We hope the person we elect represents our aspirations and does not let us down,” Khan said.
Like, Khan, Nazir Ahmad, 65, is also eagerly waiting in a long queue outside the polling booth to vote for the same reason.
“We are the custodians of forests, animals, mountains and water bodies and would like to remain so,” said Ahmad.
He said the small ‘Dhokas’ they are living in is their only wealth.
“We don’t believe in raising huge concrete structures and are no threat to the ecology,” Ahmad said.
The National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have been accusing the authorities of targeting the community and making them homeless.
However, the authorities have denied the allegations saying they were only removing unauthorized structures and fencing in forest and wildlife land.
The women folk too have turned up in good numbers towards the polling booths and seem quite enthusiastic.
“We have been voting so that our basic needs are addressed,” says Shah Bano, an elderly village woman.
She said she has been voting right since he got the voting rights.
“For us, every election is important so that the right people represent us at every forum,” Bano says. In polling booth 50- Lidroo till around 10:30 am, 93 votes were polled out of 300.
In another polling booth 48 Lidroo, 129 votes were cast out of 387 till the same time. Similarly, in the polling booth- 49 Lidroo 133 were polled out of 542.
The mood in Grend, another village of the block, was no different. In one of the polling booths 74 votes were cast out of 501 by only 10:00 am. A similar trend was witnessed in Ganeshpora, Batkoot, Langanbal, Gujrai Batkoot, Frisal, Mamal, Aru, Yannar, Srechan, Mawoora, Khelan and other villages.
Those in the fray include the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration candidate Muhamad Yousuf Gorsi (NC leader) from Lidroo village, Apni Party candidate Gul Muhammad Koli and BJP candidate Haji Muhamad Ismail Gujar.
Among the independent candidates are Chaudary Hameed, Chaudhary Altaf and Khalida Parveen of Grend village.