“The voting shows democracy being alive at the grass roots,” the region’s top civil servant, BVR Subrahmanyam, told a group of reporters. Many prominent Kashmiri politicians and public figures remain in detention with no recourse, or under threat. “We’d never want BJP to be in power in Kashmir,” said Kulsoom Chopan, 21, while waiting to vote in Bandipora, a northern district. Jammu and Kashmir, which used to be India’s only Muslim-predominant state, is now a federal territory ruled directly by the Indian government. Activists say hundreds of people, including separatists, political moderates, civil society advocates and journalists remain in jail after they were swept up last year.

Source: bd News24 December 23, 2020 10:07 UTC