NAVIGATING THE MINEFIELDS OF J&K ELECTIONS

The challenges of conducting polls in a combat zone are many. The dividend from Article 370's abrogation is likely to flow when an elected government takes charge

- LT GEN SYED ATA HASNAIN

A series of events have occurred or been orchestrated by different elements in the erstwhile state of J&K, now a union territory since August 5, 2019.

That was the fateful day when Article 370 was abrogated and the ongoing proxy war found a new and energetic Indian approach towards countering it. Combined with this are many nuances, from demographic, political, social and security angles, that present one of the most confounding electoral situations in India.

Have polls in recent years achieved anything in the quest for peace? Seven years after Pakistan initiated the proxy war in J&K (1989), India resorted to using one of its strongest credentials to seek stabilisation and peace. In 1996, the strength of terrorists in J&K was still abnormally high, but the terror pipeline from the Russia-Afghanistan war was drying up and our security resources were sufficient.

However, where India was on the backfoot was in the domain of human rights, after the US-backed campaign cast allegations against us through 1994-96, forcing us to face the ignominy of defending ourselves at Geneva at the first UN Human Rights Council meeting in June 1994. Therefore, India's decision to conduct elections in J&K in 1996 was also to ward off alleged blotches on its track record.