Kashmir elections: final phase voting almost complete – OpEd

Those who wanted continuation of Article 370 and 35A were against the integration of Kashmir. It was they who believed in the two-state theory and the partition of India. With elections underway and democracy successfully established in a state hitherto riddled with Pakistan-promoted terrorism, the current Bharatiya Janata Party government has been vindicated.

Today is indeed a historic day as India concludes the final and final phase of voting for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections held after a long gap of a decade.

One and a half billion people are ecstatic as this is the first time the mesmerizingly beautiful Himalayan territory will vote since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government corrected a historic injustice five years ago by revoking Kashmir’s special autonomous status and implementing Article 370 and 35 A, which only brought misery to the local population.

Today, on Tuesday, October 1, over 39.18 lakh voters will decide the fate of 415 candidates contesting 40 seats in the third phase. The results of the 90-member meeting will be announced on October 8. The highlight of the final phase of voting will be the participation of West Pakistani refugees, Valmiki Samaj and Gorkha community who have been given voting rights in the assembly, and urban local bodies. and panchayat elections only after the abrogation of Article 370.

The intense campaign for this third and final phase of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir ended on Sunday, September 29, with major political parties, especially the BJP, the Indian National Congress (INC), the regional parties National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are having fierce discussions on critical issues including Pakistan, Article 370, terrorism and reservation.

For those of our readers who do not know the background, I must inform them that the imposition of Article 370 was illegal. It was covertly applied to J&K in 1954 through a presidential order without invoking Article 368. It completely bypassed the Indian Parliament and is mentioned only in an appendix. Those who wanted Article 370 and 35A were against the integration of Kashmir. It was they who believed in the two-state theory and the partition of India. With elections underway and democracy successfully established in a state ravaged by Pakistan-promoted terrorism, the current BJP government has been vindicated. It was on August 5, 2019, that the BJP corrected a historic injustice that had brought untold misery to the people of Kashmir. The people of the state could never participate in the mainstream Kashmir discourse because it was hijacked by those who, either through the patronage of religion or Pakistan or both, played the victim when in reality it was they who perpetrated injustice committed. The abrogation of Article 370 heralds the birth of a ‘new Kashmir of truth and justice’.

It is no surprise that Pakistan, which has forever unleashed terror in the beautiful Himalayan state, labels the holding of elections in Kashmir as ‘constitutional terrorism’. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s speech last week at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) denounced the parliamentary elections currently being held in J&K and warned India of a strong response in case of aggression towards Pakistan. “After the abrogation of Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, India is using various tactics to change the demography of Kashmir. It is the responsibility of the international community to take note of the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir and implement the UN resolutions by granting the right to plebiscite. Shehbaz said Pakistan is also denouncing the ongoing elections in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir as “such measures can never pacify the oppressed Kashmiris who have been stripped of their special status and rights by India’s ‘constitutional terrorism’ on August 5, 2019 .

On the other hand, India criticized Pakistan, saying it was “hypocrisy at its worst” for a country that has long weaponized cross-border terrorism against its neighbors to talk about violence. India responded: “…This meeting unfortunately witnessed a travesty this morning – a country ruled by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics trafficking and transnational crime, has had the audacity to become the largest democracy the world to attack.”

The Indian Foreign Ministry stated: “It is ridiculous that a country that committed genocide in 1971 and ruthlessly persecutes its minorities, even now, dares to talk about intolerance and phobias,” referring to the war of independence in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Meanwhile, there is widespread international appreciation for India’s move to invite a group of diplomats from 15 countries, including the US, Singapore, South Korea and South Africa, who visited J&K last week to conduct the second phase of polling to observe in the union territory. . The government has also sent a second group of diplomats to the state for the third phase of elections.

Official sources said the mood was lively in the first two phases, with a turnout of nearly 60% in phase 1 and around 70% in phase 2. However, in the eight parliamentary seats in Srinagar, the turnout was a low 29.81 %, a marginal increase. compared to the 2014 Assembly elections (27.77%) and the recent Lok Sabha elections (25%). Thirteen political parties are in the race for a majority in the 90-member assembly, with the state divided into the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated Jammu district, a BJP stronghold.

“These elections are history in the making, the echoes of which will be passed on to posterity. The valleys and mountains, which once witnessed fear and boycott, are now participating in the democratic celebrations, or Jashn-e-Jamhuriat,” said Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India.

Buoyed by its better-than-expected performance in the recent general elections, the Congress has rallied support for Kashmir’s erstwhile autonomous status. On the other hand, Indian Prime Minister Modi has maintained that his government will address Kashmir’s ambitions and restore full statehood. status to J&K. Promising to transform the state into a “terror-free and tourist-friendly” region, Prime Minister Modi said the valley had attracted more than 2.7 million tourists by 2023 and initial figures suggest it could be on course to hit that record to beat this year.