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'They have not even asked for our votes'
NAME: The Sahibs, Ghaziabad

Voting is not a major concern for the Sahibs, a Kashmiri Pandit family now settled near Delhi.

Discussions, in fact, rarely revolve around politics in the two-bedroom flat in Sun City colony, which is located in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh that B L Sahib, his wife Aasha, their son Rajesh Sahib and his wife Dimple call home.

"Tell me what do we get if we go ahead and vote? The government has given us nothing but antipathy in the last 15 years since we left our homeland in 1990," argues Rajesh Sahib, the only working member of the family, who has a job with the administrative department at a multinational corporation.

"We belong to Srinagar parliamentary constituency. A few thousand Pandit votes are not going to make a difference [to anyone]. Worse, those who are in the fray for the seat do not even bother to visit us in our camps and ask for our votes," he adds.

Rajesh's father, a former government officer is bitter. He is critical of the political system and the way the Kashmiri Pandit community has been treated by the Government of India as well as by the Jammu and Kashmir government. He lost a kidney due to an acute blood sugar disorder. Relocation had not been kind on their finances and Sahib needed financial assistance for his treatment. "My treatment is costly but when I approach officials and politicians for help, they refuse to do anything," he said.

No, the Sahibs have no interest in voting.

The Sahibs spoke to Onkar Singh

Next: 'He wanted money to put our names on the voters' list'

Previous: 'Vajpayee has brought a sense of pride in being an Indian'

How We Will Vote

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