INDIA: KASHMIR ELECTIONS & SECURITY

Описание: (15 Jan 2001) Urdu/Eng/Nat

Thousands of security personnel are on alert to prevent Islamic militants from thwarting the India-controlled Kashmiri elections - the first village elections in 23 years.

On Monday, the first phase of voting will cover Kupwara, Poonch and Rajouri districts close to the ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Separatist leaders and militant groups in Kashmir have asked people to boycott the elections.

Coming amid rising guerrilla violence, many feel the elections are ill-timed and could scuttle the peace process initiated by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Fears that voting will bring more violence have brought thousands of armed policemen and paramilitary soldiers out on the streets in Kashmir.

Monday is the first day of 10-week-long elections for the village councils in the strife-torn Himalayan state.

The eight-phase exercise will run through March.

For more than a decade, militants and other organisations demanding self-determination for Kashmir have threatened voters and boycotted elections.

Voting has been postponed three times in the past four years because of fighting between government forces and the Islamic guerrillas.

Village councils, or panchayats, organise community programmes and help build local infrastructure in India - a country where most of its people live in hundreds of thousands of villages.

Only individuals can run for the 2-thousand-600 village councils - parties can't take part.

The announcement of elections is seen as a major political development that could assuage some of the anger people feel after 11 years of war between militants and the Indian army.

The state government of Jammu-Kashmir has decided to go ahead with the election process, despite boycott calls from militant outfits and separatist groups.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We cannot afford to turn back just because a ceasefire has been called. The process has to go on and the power has to go to the people.That is my promise to them and that is what I am going to do."
SUPER CAPTION: Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir state

Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, says it will continue its peace attempts.

It has decided to send a team of representatives to Pakistan to talk to government leaders and Islamic guerrilla groups fighting the army in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

But Hurriyat has urged people to boycott the village council elections in the insurgency-wracked province, calling it an "undemocratic drama" by the government aimed at sabotaging Kashmir's freedom struggle.

The alliance has 23 member groups.

The Hurriyat, which doesn't accept Indian control over Kashmir, has boycotted previous state and federal elections in 1996 and 1999.

SOUNDBITE: (Urdu)
"The people of Kashmir are not interested in these elections. We want a solution to the Kashmir issue.Hurriyat conference as well as the Kashmiri people do not want to contest the elections for Panchayats or for state assembly. And we are not prepared to take any step under the Indian constitution that would affect our struggle."
SUPER CAPTION: Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Hurriyat leader

There has been no local democracy in Kashmir since the insurgency began in 1989.

Before that, although nominated village councils functioned off and on, no direct elections to the panchayats have been held since 1969.

Many observers see this as a reflection of a serious political malaise.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Amitabh Mattoo, Jawaharlal Nehru University professor














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