India to hold elections in disputed Kashmir

The Election Commission of India announced on Friday that three phases of assembly elections would take place in disputed territory Kashmir from September 18 to October 1.

The region of Kashmir was stripped of its semi-autonomy authority in 2019 and reduced to a federally controlled territory by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Since then, the area has been run by bureaucrats lacking democratic credentials and administrator appointed by New Delhi.

This is the first time that India has held elections in the region in ten years. The vote will happen in stages so that the government can deploy tens of thousands of Indian soldiers to stop any violence from breaking out.

The voting will elect a local government, consisting of a chief minister who will head the region’s government alongside a council of ministers from the pro-Indian political parties competing.

However, the local assembly will barely have any legislative authority while the Indian parliament will continue to draft laws for the region.