Kashmir votes for first time after revocation of special status

Indian-administered Kashmir voted on Wednesday in the first local elections since the cancellation of its special semi-autonomous status sparked fury in the  territory.
Many in the Muslim-majority territory of 8.7 million registered voters remain bitter over the 2019 order by the Hindu-nationalist government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose control from New Delhi.
Authorities deployed thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers in the region’s seven southern districts where over 2.3 million residents are eligible to cast their votes and chose 24 lawmakers out of 219 candidates in the first phase of the polling.
A federally appointed governor has controlled the territory since, with the first regional assembly election in a decade viewed by many as being more about exercising their democratic rights than practical policies.
Voters queued under heavy security in the three-phased election, which is being staggered geographically due to security arrangements and logistical challenges in the mountainous region.
“After 10 years we are allowed to be heard,” said Navid Para, 31, among the first to vote in the cool morning mountain air of Pulwama, near the main city of Srinagar. “I want my voice represented.”

About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region battling a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed, including dozens this year.
Modi urged people to vote in “large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy.”

Top electoral officer P.K. Pole reported “peaceful and incident-free” polling, with long queues suggesting “a high turnout”.
‘Solve our problems’
“All the politics revolves around the dispute,” said trader Navin Kotwal, 73, from Doda in Jammu district. “All I care about is that we want to be governed by educated representatives who can solve our problems.”
Farmer Ahmadullah Bhat, 47, said he had voted “to have our own government,” saying he was worried common land was being taken under the rule of federal authorities. “I can now go to my elected representative to solve our issues,” he said.

Vigorous election campaigns featured unusually open debates but key decisions will remain in New Delhi’s hands, including security and appointing Kashmir’s governor. Delhi will also have the power to override legislation passed by the 90-seat assembly.
The last round of voting will be held on Oct.2. Results are expected six days later.
‘Better than nothing’

The territory, officially titled Jammu and Kashmir, is split. One part is the overwhelmingly Muslim Kashmir Valley. Another is the Hindu-majority Jammu district, geographically divided by mountains to the south.
A third section, the high-altitude ethnically Tibetan Ladakh region, bordering China, was carved into a separate federal territory in 2019.
Some of the worst violence this year has been in Jammu, where Modi campaigned for votes on Saturday and, in a reference to rebel groups fighting Indian rule, vowed that “terrorism is on its last legs”.