Kashmiris vote in final phase of election

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Voters in Indian-occupied Kashmir headed to the polls Tuesday in the third and final phase of a crucial election that will decide the fates of 415 candidates.

More than 3.9 million voters are eligible to cast ballots for a total of 40 assembly seats across seven districts of the region — three northern districts of Kashmir province and four districts of Jammu province.

The first phase witnessed a high turnout of 61.1%, according to the Election Commission of India. The second phase’s turnout was 56.79%, pulled down by a low turnout of 29.24% in the eight constituencies of the capital Srinagar. Counting of the votes will be held on Oct. 8.

The highlight of the final phase is a surge in support for the Awami Ittehad Party of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, who won the election for the Indian parliament this year while being in jail on charges of terror funding.

He was surprisingly granted bail on Sept.11 to campaign for his party. Jailed since August 2019, his bail ends on Oct. 2, leading his opponents in Kashmir to link him with India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BHP).

Upon his release, he told reporters: “I am committed to fighting for my people. I am coming back to unite people and not divide them…I will fight the prime minister’s narrative of Naya Kashmir. I want to bring everlasting peace to Kashmir and prove that Kashmiris are not stone pelters. But we will not compromise with our political rights.”

The election is the first since India scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s special autonomy in August 2019.

From 2018 to Aug. 5, 2019, New Delhi ruled the region directly through a governor who wielded as much authority as an elected government.

It was then made a federally ruled territory and has since been under a lieutenant governor with even more powers, which prompted the region’s top pro-freedom leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, to remark that the “polls lost significance even before they began.”

The vote will lead to a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, as Jammu and Kashmir will remain a union territory under direct federal control and the Indian parliament will be its top legislature.