Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – Kashmiris voted on Saturday in the first local elections since the tumultuous lifting of the Muslim-majority region’s restricted autonomy last August, marking the resumption of a stalled political process.
Nearly six million voters in the 20 districts of the disputed region can elect 280 members of the District Development Councils (DDC) who are not empowered to enact or amend laws in the region, which is now governed directly from New Delhi. Elections are also held to fill vacancies in Panchayat (village council) and local government bodies.
Approximately 1,000 candidates from various political parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are taking part in the eight-phase DDC elections. Some Kashmiri analysts say this is a symbolic exercise in a region with deep distrust of India.
The vote for the third phase on Friday is underway. Almost 52 percent of the population voted on Saturday, while in the second round on Tuesday 49 percent voted under strict security precautions. The Pulwama district of southern Kashmir received less than seven percent of the votes – an indication of an apparent lack of interest in the democratic process.
The region’s two bitter rivals – the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – have come together for the first time under the People’s Alliance Declaration for Gupkar (PAGD) to contest the elections.
“Fight and Resist”
The NC, which has ruled Kashmir for most of the past seven decades, has provided three prime ministers, while former prime minister Mehbooba Mufti is a member of the PDP. Her late father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was also Prime Minister of the region twice, the last time in an alliance with the BJP.
Indian paramilitary soldiers guard near a polling station in the Charangam area of Budgam District during the second phase of the election [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]The so-called PAGD Alliance contests the elections on a platform to restore Kashmir’s special status and statehood.
India’s Hindu nationalist government downgraded Kashmir’s statehood after it stripped its special status on August 5 and imprisoned thousands, including most pro-Indian politicians, who feared protests following its unprecedented decision.
Mufti, the region’s former prime minister, who was detained under the strict Public Security Act (PSA) last year and released in October this year, told Al Jazeera that the parties in Kashmir had formed the alliance to ” to leave no room open for the BJP ”.
“If we stay away from it (elections), this space will be occupied by those elements that are detrimental to the interests of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.
“It is a political struggle for us now. It’s not that BJP will usually last forever and we won’t be able to resist. We have to fight and resist, we cannot stop resisting, ”said Mufti, who most recently served as prime minister in a coalition with the BJP.
Pro-India parties
But the BJP has targeted pro-Indian parties who have dominated politics under certain conditions since the region’s controversial accession to India in 1947. New Delhi removed Article 370, which gave Kashmir a degree of autonomy, including its own flag, constitution, and the right to legislate.
32-year-old Aneesa Gul, who is fighting for the BJP ticket in Chadoora village in central Kashmir, told Al Jazeera that “her party’s motive is only development and development [to] Eliminate unemployment and finance for women ”.
Voters are queuing to cast their ballots in the second phase of the DDC and Panchayat elections in Budgam District [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]”BJP will develop Kashmir better than Gujarat,” said Gul, who has been associated with the BJP since 2014. “The gang of other politicians betrayed Kashmir for 70 years through their rule.” You can no longer fool people. We have to develop cashmere. “
Zahoor Ahmad from the village of Theed on the outskirts of Srinagar told Al Jazeera that he wanted to “fight for power and work for the improvement of the youth” in his region.
“Politics and power have always been held by old people and they have not helped us in any way. We are young and we hope to be able to help young people, ”said Ahmad, 32, who works as an independent worker.
Suhail Bukhari, a former journalist working with the PAGD coalition, accused the New Delhi-led government of the region of obstructing his alliance’s campaigning activities.
“There have been many cases where the alliance candidates have been hindered and restricted and others have been relieved,” said Bukhari, who holds a seat in Sangrama village in Baramulla district.
“These elections place Jammu and Kashmir on a bigger political issue in the context of the August 5th amendments, which were unconstitutional and undemocratic,” he said.
“No Credibility”
Noor Ahmad Baba, a local political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the BJP “wants to change the nature of politics in Kashmir.”
“The situation doesn’t seem to be normal. Everything is governed by Delhi and it regulates and administers the affairs of the region. The BJP appears to have its own long-term policy change program in Kashmir. After removing Article 370 last year, there is no local government this time, ”he said.
Baba said the political structure was “completely destroyed” by the events of last year.
“People who represented mainstream politics in Kashmir were not happy and were not considered. Most of the time they have been constrained, they have taken a different position, there is a lot of polarization, ”he said.
The elections are important to both New Delhi and the region’s politicians. While the elections will help New Delhi resume the political process in Kashmir, the region’s political leaders will use the elections to make a comeback.
Siddiq Wahid, a political analyst and academic, told al Jazeera that the ruling BJP’s agenda is to vote through the elections to show that things are normal in Kashmir.
Wahid said the election “has no credibility because it bypasses institutions and creates new institutions when you don’t have a democratically elected government. I don’t think these are very significant elections, even though BJP is trying to make them an election. “
In addition to the more than half a million armed forces already stationed in Kashmir, thousands of troops were deployed to keep things running smoothly during the election as the rebels continue to launch attacks.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, KK Sharma, the electoral commissioner, defended the opposition’s allegations, saying the government’s actions should ensure the safety of the candidates.
Sharma described the elections as “significant and historic for Kashmir” and said they were “very democratically contested elections”.
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