Mohamad Junaid: In rejecting the elections, Kashmiris have made a clear democratic statement against the occupation.
Elections since 1950s have been used to install pliant collaborators to administer Kashmir on behalf of the Indian state. It is well known in Kashmir that the way to become an MLA or an MP is not just by singing Indian anthem or showing fealty to the Indian constitution, but to remain in total subservience to the “security needs” of the Indian state, however these needs are defined by India. After, 1996, elections have worked to reinforce and normalize the state of emergency in Kashmir.
The scale of boycott and the catatonia it has induced in the pro-India regime in Srinagar show how critical and imperative the question of independence has become for Kashmiris and how marginal the so-called “mainstream” is. Of course, this is not new. For those who know, elections in Kashmir have always been staged events: from its timings, candidates, “stages,” and the lockdowns—everything is minutely choreographed. For now the script has gone awry; that is why the occupier regime is killing people in frustration.
As “Indian democracy” has chosen fascism; Kashmiris have democratically chosen to reject that “democracy” itself.