Fifty-nine year-old Aasha Jee on 8 May became the first Kashmiri Pandit woman to win a panchayat poll in a predominantly Muslim village in Kashmir’s Kunzer block after her victory by 11. Aasha got 53 votes compared to 42 for her only rival Sarwa Begum in the panch elections of Wusan village.
Wusan is around 20 km from Srinagar and only four Pandit families presently live there. Aasha’s family was one of the few that stayed back when others from the community left Kashmir during the rise of militancy. Wusan doesn’t have a police post or a security force camp though Aasha is positive despite being vulnerable to attacks by militants who had called for poll boycott in the state.
Her rival Sarwa Begum was gracious in defeat and wished Aasha success and hope she will work for the village. Aasha’s elder son Suresh Kumar is a constable in Jammu & Kashmir police while the younger one helps his father at their village grocery shop.
Over 2000 sarpanchs and more than 15000 panchs were elected for 15,000 constituencies across J&K. Panchayat polls in the state were held after more than a decade. The last panchayat polls were held in 2001. The state government is now contemplating elections for municipal corporations and committees in urban areas.
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