SRINAGAR: Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) is voting on Tuesday in the third and final round of elections to elect its first assembly since the insurgency-wracked region was brought under India’s direct control.
Experts said that in the UN-recognized disputed territory of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), the influence of the ballot is often overshadowed by the presence of military force. They added that the electoral process in IIOJ&K consistently raises fundamental concerns about the fairness and transparency of both the election’s execution and its results.
Hindu-extremist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government cancelled IIOJ&K’s special status in 2019, a sudden and unilateral decision accompanied by mass arrests as well as a months-long communication blackout in the region.
Since then the disputed territory has not had an elected government and has been ruled instead by a New Delhi appointed governor.
More than half a million Indian forces are stationed around IIOJ&K and Tuesday’s polls saw a heavy security presence, with rifle-toting troops seen guarding polling stations in Baramulla. A high unemployment rate as well as anger at the 2019 acts have animated campaigning, and local political parties have pledged to fight for the restoration of the disputed region’s autonomy.
Over 55 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots in the first two rounds of the elections. Prior polls saw lower turnouts following boycotts called by Kashmiri freedom fighters, who have waged a struggle for self-determination.
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Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims the 2019 changes to the region’s governance have delivered a new era of development to Occupied Kashmir. However, that is rejected by local political parties in the disputed territory, who say the accompanying security crackdown brought a drastic restriction of civil liberties.
While the extremist BJP has fielded candidates in all the constituencies of Jammu, it is contesting only a third of the seats elsewhere.
Regardless of the results, key decisions regarding the Occupied Kashmir’s governance will remain in the hands of New Delhi, where Modi’s led government can use its influence to override any law passed by the 90-seat assembly. Experts said that the elections will fill 90 Assembly seats, yet the authority of these representatives will be restricted. Key areas like law, order, and land remain under the control of the Lieutenant Governor, making statehood a distant reality, they added. Voters and local leadership alike are sceptical of the elections’ significance without the restoration of IIOJ&K’s statehood, experts and local leaders said. Reports said that the results will be announced on October 8.