Voters queue up at a polling station in Pulwama, south of Srinagar on September 18, 2024. | Photo Credit: Imran Nissar Once hotbeds of militancy and street protests, volatile pockets of south Kashmir’s Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian districts on Wednesday (September 18, 2024) showed a significant shift towards participatory democracy.Voters who turned 18 this year, and voters who had boycotted elections for the past 34 years in response to the separatist Hurriyat’s call, headed to polling booths for their maiden voting experience. There was no fear of militant violence nor coercion from any side. Tral saw 37.68% voter turnout in the 2014 Assembly election. This time, turnout had crossed 40.58% by 5 p.m.“The past four years have been tough. Security forces have cracked down, and the humiliation inflicted by officials from outside instilled a sense of helplessness. Anti-people laws were framed without locals being consulted. I am voting to end our helplessness. We are at a critical juncture of history. Vote is my means to make a statement against the forces hellbent on destroying Jammu and Kashmir with each passing day,” Fayyaz Ahmad Magray, 46, a voter from Tral’s Batgund area, said. Pink booth in Kishtwar to encourage women voters The first phase of the long-awaited Jammu and Kashmir elections is underway, with seven districts voting on September 18. These are the first assembly polls since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.To encourage women voters a Pink booth has also been set up in Kishtwar district. The booth is being operated by all female staff with heavy presence of security. According to poll officers, a successful mock polling was held beforehand. | Video Credit: The Hindu Many first-time voters attributed pressing governance issues to their stand at the polling booths for being “an agent of change”. “Open merit reservation has gone down significantly during the past six years. More and more communities are added to the reservation list and the open merit students’ quota has been reduced to around 30%. Our future is bleak if it’s not rationalised,” Qasim Sheikh, a first-time voter from Shopian, said. Also read | PM Modi, Rahul urge J&K voters to exercise their franchiseShopian remains a volatile district in south Kashmir, with continuing militancy. However, in a change from previous trends, voter turnout in the Shopian Assembly segment jumped from 52.06% in 2014 to 54.72% by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.  In Pulwama, Gundibagh-Kakpora, and Beighpora, which is the native place of Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber who killed around 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans in 2019, and of the Hizbul Mujahideen’s slain commander Riyaz Naikoo, the vote is the new weapon.Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2024: Key facts“Come August 15, we are rounded up. On every VVIP’s visit, youth are summoned to police stations. We hope this vote will bring an end to the cycle of summons and raids,” a young voter said on the condition of anonymity. J&K polls taking place due to SC order: Omar Abdullah National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on 18 September said there are things which do not need government’s approval, like the current Jammu & Kashmir polls. His remarks came in response to a question about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks that even as NC and PDP have promised restoration of Article 370 in their manifestos, the BJP government at the Centre will not allow that, the NC vice president said many issues do not need the government’s approval. The NC leader also said he is hopeful that people will vote in favour of the NC-Congress pre-poll alliance. The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said the assembly elections, which are being held here after 10 years, are very important. | Video Credit: The Hindu Pulwama, too, threw upa surprise with its voting percentage — which stood at 46.22% at 5 p.m. when compared with 38.31% in 2014. Anantnag, always in the throes of separatist boycott calls, witnessed a significant jump in the voting percentage, from 38.67% in 2014 to 41.58% in this election, by 5 p.m.  Published – September 18, 2024 10:46 pm IST