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The M S Gill Chat

He will be back for a longer session after the electoral process in the valley concludes at the month-end.

vikas (Tue Sep 17 19:48:22 1996 IST):

Hello all...

We are all waiting for the chat to begin.

We are all waiting for the chat to begin.

Folks, Dr Gill is here and ready to answer your questions!

Good evening, Dr Gill. It's wonderful to have you here. This is the first of two Chats featuring you. We do hope you enjoy the experience.

Folks, Dr Gill is here and ready to answer your questions!

Dr Gill, how do you assess the second stage of polling in Kashmir?

Hullo, Mr Gill. Why does the election in Kashmir have no credibility? There are newspaper reports here in Singapore that the security forces compelled voters to vote on Monday. Is that true?

Dr Gill, What are your comments on the two phases of polling held in J&k?

The Kashmir election is a sham. The election committee in India may have a lot of credibility elsewhere, but in the disputed province of Kashmir, it is a handmaiden of the Indian government. Please comment.

Rama: It has gone very well with about 50 per cent poll in the valley and about 60 in the Jammu region.

Good morning, Dr Gill. We in the US have a great deal of trouible convincing our friends that the election in Kashmir is not a sham. Is this poll as bad as the last one?

Brian: This is not true. You obviously totally buy whatever you read in newspapers.

How can we believe you? IN May you claimed the poll was free and fair. I discovered subsequently that the Indian army coerced the voters. So how can we believe you?

Dr Gill ,pl convince us that the newspaper images of the Kashmir elections are not true

Dr Gill, if I believed what appears in the papers I would not be here. I am here to find out from you the TRUTH. If you can't provide it I take it that the newspapers are correct.

Shail: In a difficult situation, we have made every effort to have a peaceful fair poll on a level playing field for all parties. The Commission is not interested in percentages. It is striving for credibility of the election.

The Media reported a 57 per cent turnout yesterday, did the Election commission expect this percentage of turnout?

Dave: You don't have to.

Mr Gill, what can be done to ensure that booth capturing does not take place?

Agreed, I don't have to believe you. But your response is typical of the arrogance that one associates with Indian government officials. I am sorry to say your responses do not add a wee bit credibility to your claims that the poll is free and fair.

To hell with Kashmir. In certain parts of north India, people from the lower castes are not allowed to vote in the villages? How can that be prevented?

You have been critical of Minister Dar. Yet the ruling Janata Dal has asked him to defy the EC. Has the EC lost its teeth now that Mr Seshan is no longer active?

Anurag: Yours and your friends perceptions are based on a particular line of reporting which necessarily is not the gospel truth. There is a very difficult situation but there can only be a democratic solution through representative government. Believe me, we are doing everything we can to give people a fair election. If the security forces are there, so are other armed men who have no business in the country. Their presence is not seriously in doubt anywhere.

How fair are percentages of voter turnout. By that logic, the world's fairest elections should be the one in North Korea which recorded 100 percent turnout, and all voted for the then ruler (forget his name).

Goodnight, Dr Gill and all the best with your sham polls.

Hullo, Sir. How many Kashmiri migrants -- those of us who were kicked out of our homes -- have voted in this poll? Could you give us an estimate?

Dr Gill, don't you think your and Mr Krishnamoorthy's appointment was done to clip Seshan's wings (and tongue). Yet, India needs an unfettered Seshan. Your comments.

Demoman: Which papers? I have seen an issue of the Time magazine on the first phase of elections. That should satisfy you. In India, as in America, we have both criticism and some praise. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Dr Gill, a reply, a reply, my netdom for a reply

What about election in Uttar Pradesh? How your commission plans to stop the violence and bloodshed?

Dr Gill, Mr Abhishek Srivastava has a question similar to mine? How can fair elections be ensured in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar without violence and where all are allowed to vote, just those with guns and money?

Dr Gill , has Seshan's activism helped redefine the role of the Election Commission ?

Akash: First, it is not a wide ranging phenomenon. If it was, every Indian election would not overthrow established governments. To control it, where it sometimes occurs, we try various administrative methods, including cancelling polls and redoing them. In UP, we are pressing the governor to put under restraint all lawless elements. More seriously, good elections in my view can only be a product of near total literacy and reasonable economic development and not just regulations and policing. India's literacy level of about 50 per cent is a failure of our free 50 years work.

Shafi: Minister Dar came back to Delhi on the 15th and was not present at Anantnag where his two sons are fighting elections. HE came to the Commission and met me and EC Krishnamoorty. He has not defied the Commission and we and him are clear on doing everything for free and fair elections.

Thanks Dr Gill. How does the commission plan to ensure that religion is kept out of elections? Why is the Hindu parishad which goes around breaking mosques allowed to help the BJP?

Dr Gill, what steps EC is taking in growing awareness about the elections, among the citizens of India?

Shri Gill, what is your kind opinion of the election reforms proposed by the political parties?

Abhishek: The Commission is determined to have peaceful and fair elections in UP. I personally held a meeting in Varanasi with all the senior officers of Eastern UP districts. 18 of them. Krishnamoorty is going to Western UP tomorrow. I have made it clear that the Commission will hold senior police and civil officers responsible for violence and unfair election practices. You wati and watch how it goes.

Shri Gill, I am not convinced by your kind response on Mr Dar. Just because he met you and Shri G V G Krishnamurty, does that absolve him of all wrongdoing? In Mr Seshan's times, he would have been forced to resign. You remember what happened to Governor Qureishi after the Madhya Pradesh election.

Do you ever feel irritaed that everything you do is measured against Mr Seshan's awesome achievements?

Hari: For the first time legal changes have been made to enable Kashmiri migrants to vote. They are the only group in India who have been so enabled. IT is a difficult operation but they have been given voting papers in Delhi and Jammu, etc. WE will know the number by 30th when voting ends.

Dr Gill, how do you plan to keep religion out of politics, and especially groups like the Vishva Hindu parishad who help BJP

Akash: There are clear laws already to prevent misuse of religion for election purposes. Unfortunately, these are not applied effectively enough. It also has to be recognised that such an abuse in such a sensitive area of human convictions cannot be held down by law and lathi alone. Ultimately, all of us together, EC, politicians, parties amd pe people have to create a soceital opinion and movement against such misuse.

Abhishek: No! There's space enough in this wide world for two little men called Seshan and Gill.

Dr Gill, you said the laws have not been applied. But isn't that the shortcoming of the Election Commision given that politicians will not really act

Dr Gill, how do you plan to ensure that the most marginalised sections of India -- the poor tribals, the illiterates beggars in cities -- also get a chance to vote rather than just the middle-classes

Dr gill, should voting be made compulsory? pls reply

I have to leave now, I have an dinner engagement I am bound to keep. I have enjoyed this session with you. I will be back with you after the elections in Kashmir are over and will spend a longer time with you then. Bye!

I have to leave now, I have an dinner engagement I am bound to keep. I have enjoyed this session with you. I will be back with you after the elections in Kashmir are over and will spend a longer time with you then. Bye!