Voting on local government begins for the first time in Indian-controlled Kashmir after losing autonomy

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Three-phase elections to elect local governments in Indian-controlled Kashmir began early Wednesday, the first such voting since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.

Authorities sent thousands of extra police and paramilitary troops to the region’s seven southern districts, where more than 2.3 million residents are eligible to vote, and selected 24 lawmakers from 219 candidates in the first phase of voting.

Dressed in anti-riot gear and armed with assault rifles, soldiers set up checkpoints and patrolled polling precincts as locals lined up to cast their votes in villages and towns.

The second and third phases are scheduled for September 25 and October 1 in a process that is being staggered to allow troops to move in to deter potential violence. Votes will be counted on October 8, with results expected the same day.

For the first time, authorities restricted foreign media access to polling stations and denied press accreditation to most journalists working with international media, including the Associated Press, without giving a reason. Press passes issued by electoral authorities are mandatory for journalists to travel and film, photograph or interview voters in the constituency.

India and Pakistan administer parts of Kashmir, but both countries claim the entire territory. Militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India says the Kashmiri militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the accusations, and most Kashmiris see it as a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

The vote is the first in a decade and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 ended the Muslim-majority region’s semiautonomy, demoted the former state to a federally-ruled territory and stripped it of a separate constitution and inherited land and job protections. It was also split into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run the territories along with unelected bureaucrats and security personnel.

Many said they knew their vote would not resolve the Kashmir dispute, but it gave them a rare opportunity to express their frustration with India’s direct control.

Aamir Ahmed, who voted for the first time in Pulwama city, said it was important to elect a local representative “who does not tolerate irregularities”.

“We have seen a lot of suffering in the last 10 years,” Ahmed said.

Another voter, 80-year-old farmer Ali Mohammad Alai, said the Modi government had “brought him into poverty” after authorities took away land he had been given decades ago to farm by the local government. “All I want is to get this land back,” he said. “Our own government can do that.”

People in the Kashmir Valley have had tiered land-use rights since reforms in the 1950s that largely gave Muslim farmers ownership of land, which they farmed for minority Hindu rulers and their elite. Some of those rights were revoked after the 2019 changes.

Voter turnout was low early Wednesday morning, but as the day progressed, long lines of voters formed around some polling stations.

In Kishtwar city, many voters said they hoped the vote would result in a government that would focus on economic development and address their core concerns. “Whether it’s the BJP or any other party or coalition, we are desperate for development and a better life. Politics can wait,” said Chander Jeet Sharma, 49.

The multi-phase elections will allow Kashmir to have its own stripped-down government and local legislature, called an assembly, rather than being ruled directly by New Delhi. The chief minister will lead a council of ministers in the government.

However, there will be a limited transfer of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, as Kashmir will continue to be a “union territory” — directly controlled by the federal government — and the Indian parliament will remain its main legislator. The elected government will have partial control over areas such as education, culture and taxation, but not over policing. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored so that the new government has powers similar to those of other Indian states.

Many local parties are campaigning on promises to fight to reverse the 2019 changes and address other key issues such as rising unemployment and inflation in a region where residents have faced a decline in civil liberties, especially since the revocation of special status.

However, India’s ruling BJP party has announced that it will block any action aimed at reversing these changes, but has promised to help in the economic development of the region.

The last general elections in the region were held in 2014, after which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party first ruled in coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. However, the government fell in 2018 after the BJP withdrew from the coalition.

In the past, elections have been marred by violence, boycotts and rigging, even as India has called them a victory over separatism.

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