Indian paramilitary troops patrol a road in Srinagar on December 11, 2023, ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Article 370.
Tausef Mustafa | AFP | Getty Images
residents under indian control Kashmir Preparations are underway for the first regional elections in a decade that would give them their own streamlined governments, also known as local councils, rather than remaining under direct rule from New Delhi.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, both claiming full sovereignty. The Indian-governed part has been under tension since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ended its special status and scrapped its state status in 2019.
The three-phase polls will come amid a sharp increase in rebel attacks on government forces in parts of the Hindu-dominated Jammu region, which have remained relatively peaceful during a three-decade armed insurgency against Indian rule.
As campaigning heats up in the run-up to the election, India’s main opposition Congress party has formed an alliance with the National Conference, the region’s largest pro-Indian Kashmiri party, to seek votes. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has a weak political base in the Kashmir Valley, the epicenter of an anti-India insurgency for decades, but a strong one in Jammu.
Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming election:
The history of disputed Kashmir
Kashmir’s future When British colonial rule ended in 1947, the division of the Indian subcontinent into predominantly Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan remains unresolved. Pakistan has long pushed for the right to self-determination under a 1948 United Nations resolution that called for a referendum on whether Kashmiris wanted to merge with either country.
Militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been resisting New Delhi’s rule since 1989 and India insists the militants are a cause of terrorism supported by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict, which most Kashmiri Muslims view as a legitimate struggle for freedom.
What is the current status of the area?
Indian-administered Kashmir has been without a local government since India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2018 Ended support The local Kashmiri People’s Democratic Party, overthrew the coalition government and led to the dissolution of parliament. One year later, Modi government dismissed semi-autonomous status and downgrading it to federally controlled territory.
As a result, Indian-administered Kashmir lost its flag, penal code, constitution and inherited land and employment protections. It is also divided into two union territories, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, which are directly ruled by New Delhi, which allows it to appoint a chief executive to run it alongside unelected government officials.
Even after the election, the Indian federal government will still take a decision
The election will be held between September 18 and October 1, with vote counting taking place on October 4.
In theory, the polls will result in a transfer of power from New Delhi to newly elected regional councils, with the chief minister as the region’s top elected official and a council of ministers, similar to the previous setup in 2018.
But the new polls will hardly give the new government any legislative power because Indian-controlled Kashmir will continue to be a “federal territory” – an area under direct control of the federal government – and the Indian Parliament remains the region’s lawmaker. The elected parliament has only nominal control over education and culture.
The new government must restore statehood to Kashmir before it can take power. even pro-Indian political party in KashmirLike the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party, it has vowed to fight politically and legally for the restoration of semi-autonomy in Kashmir.
How do residents of Kashmir view the upcoming elections?
Many were indifferent, and some thought their vote might be a way to express deep dissatisfaction with Modi’s party. Most of the region’s Muslim residents want independence from India or unification with Pakistan.
However, Kashmir’s pro-India political elite, many of whom have jail Having been accused of disturbing the peace and facing corruption cases in 2019, these elections saw an opportunity to politically oppose changes in India’s ruling party.
Historically, elections in Indian-administered Kashmir have been a sensitive issue, with many believing they have been rigged on multiple occasions in favor of pro-India politicians in the region.
In previous elections, Kashmiri Muslim separatist leaders who challenged India’s sovereignty over the region called for a boycott of the vote, calling it an illegal exercise under military occupation.
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