It was a vote for self-governance, not self-determination. No panchayat election in the country ever created as much hype as that of Jammu and Kashmir last year. Both voters and candidates defied militant threats to make the first state-wide panchayat polls in three decades successful. Yet about 900 panchayat leaders have resigned in the past seven months following threats from militants. Many of them face an even greater threat: the state government's reluctance to devolve powers for self-governance. The state is yet to put the three-tier Panchayati Raj system in place more than a year after the village panchayat polls. Powerless, panchayat leaders increasingly face the anger of communities. Caught between militants and restless voters, quitting seems to be the best way out for them. Richard Mahapatra reports from Srinagar and Baramulla