India concludes controversial IOJK Elections under heavy military presence

Srinagar: India history’s controversial elections in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) concluded on October 1, amid ongoing reports of intimidation and manipulation.

The Indian government had deployed nearly one million troops across the region during the election, which critics labeled as "staged" and "undemocratic." This massive military presence, aimed at controlling voters and opposition candidates, raised questions about the legitimacy of the process.

Since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, India had reshaped the political landscape of IOJK, leading to fears of further disenfranchisement of the region's Muslim majority.

The allocation of five seats in the assembly to the Lieutenant Governor—three for refugees and two for Pandits—was seen as a move to boost the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Chief Minister's powers had also been reduced, giving the Lieutenant Governor more control over police, public order, and administrative postings.

Under a controversial delimitation process, Jammu was given six additional seats, while Kashmir received only one. Observers accused the Indian government of gerrymandering constituencies to favor Hindu-majority areas, diluting the influence of the Muslim population.

This demographic shift, many feared, was part of a broader plan by the Modi government to reduce the region's Muslim majority to a minority.

Following the life imprisonment of Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik, Indian authorities continued trials against several other prominent figures, including Asiya Andrabi. Since 2019, the formation of new political parties, allegedly backed by the Indian state, further weakened mainstream Kashmiri parties.

The Modi government followed Israeli model in Occupied Kashmir, seeking to turn Muslim-majority areas into Muslim minorities through demographic changes and large-scale human rights violations. The Kashmiri leadership of the central Hurriyat was either under house arrest or being forced through NIA, SIA, ED, and courts to ensure victory for BJP-backed candidates in the elections.

 The elections saw over 900 candidates contesting, with more than 40% running as independents. However, many of these independent candidates were reportedly backed by the BJP to split the Muslim vote. Meanwhile, key figures of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) remained either in detention or under house arrest, further limiting the opposition's ability to participate in the process.

With the electoral process under the shadow of military control, the credibility of these elections was called into question. The last census in IOJK was conducted in 2011, and despite over a decade having passed, India had yet to organize a new one. For many, these elections felt more like a military exercise than a legitimate democratic process.