By Zainab Shah Gillani

While the rest of the world turns a blind eye, Narendra Modi's administration keeps on imposing more fraudulent and brutal arrangements in occupied Jammu & Kashmir. The BJP government has utilized coercion and force to uphold its illegitimate control over the territory. 

Every aspect of life for Muslims, in Jammu and Kashmir, is under assault by the ruling party of India. Massive human rights abuses by Indian forces in Kashmir include extrajudicial murders, rape, torture, and attacks on health workers as part of their efforts to put an end to the insurgency. Although there has been violent persecution in the occupied region for almost 70 years, India's unilateral action on August 5, 2019, added a new horrific chapter to Kashmir's torturous past, where the state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided, illegally annexed, by the government of India.

To avoid a popular uprising against the action that effectively stripped the Kashmiri people from all their rights, a protracted brutal lockdown and communication blackout was implemented, the military siege was strengthened, the press was restrained, and Kashmiri leaders were imprisoned. International Human rights organizations claimed rampant abuse of torture techniques and arbitrary detentions, with thousands of people being taken from their homes and kids being shot with pellet guns to make them blind. Since 2019, India’s government has consolidated its power and moving ahead to take more repressive measures such as holding fraudulent elections to legitimize its control over the territory.

The BJP government is using this electoral fraud as a model to weaken Muslims in the occupied territories. Another attempt to alter the demographics of the area is every Indian citizen even the one who is temporarily residing there, is now entitled to vote. Similar to the August 2019 action, which is a clear breach of UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir. The course of Indian activities over the last 4 years demonstrates India's intention to deny Kashmiri Muslims their right to vote and impose a BJP government on the occupied region following rigged elections.

To do this, Delhi has attempted to implement administrative and demographic changes as well as redraw the electoral boundaries to decrease Muslim representation, and tip the political scales in favor of Hindus. Muslims make up approximately 68 percent of the population in J&K whereas Hindus are 28 percent. This Muslim majority is what Modi wants to reduce to a minority. This action was vehemently opposed throughout Kashmir. Leaders of the APHC condemned it and vowed to boycott future sham polls.

Even the Kashmiri politicians who support Delhi deemed the proposal objectionable since it aimed to change Kashmir's demographics. Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the People's Democratic Party has accused BJP of implementing Nazi Germany or Israeli policy in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The question is whether India's ruling party can achieve its electoral goal in Kashmir through such blatant gerrymandering. The short answer is No, given the Kashmiri people's vehement opposition and unanimous condemnation of its objectives. India has been attempting in vain for more than 70 years to impose a system on Kashmir that has always been opposed by the vast majority of people.

Although Kashmiri leaders have been imprisoned, the general desire for liberation from Indian rule has not been 'imprisoned'. In Kashmir, Delhi's oppressive and deceitful policies have failed and only served to further alienate the local populace. If and when so-called elections do take place, the majority of Kashmiris will boycott them as they have in the past.

*Zainab Shah Gillani is a graduate of National Defense University.