Indian Kashmir to Hold Legislative Election for First Time in a Decade

For the first time in a decade, Muslim-majority Kashmir in India will hold an election for its regional legislature starting next month, the country’s election commission said on Friday.

The announcement is a step toward returning some measure of self-governance to Kashmir after the Hindu-nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the region of its semiautonomous status in 2019 and suspended democracy there.

In December, India’s Supreme Court ruled in a case challenging the revocation of Kashmir’s special status. While the court upheld the government’s move, it ordered that a process be undertaken to select a democratically elected government and to restore statehood for what is formally known as Jammu and Kashmir.

“Everyone we met wanted elections,” Rajiv Kumar, India’s chief election commissioner, told reporters in New Delhi, referring to a recent visit he made to the region.

Kashmir is at the heart of a long and bitter dispute between India and Pakistan. The Indian-controlled part of the region has endured decades of political unrest. Tens of thousands of militants, Indian soldiers and ordinary civilians have been killed during an insurgency.

A legislative election that would have taken place in 2019 was deferred after the federal government in New Delhi brought the region — the only one in India with a Muslim majority — under its direct control.