New Delhi, Sept 15: Senior Supreme Court Advocate, Ashok Bhan has said the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections are not merely about who governs the union territory but about the broader struggle for the restoration of statehood and genuine democratic norms.
Speaking at a webinar “Kashmir Policy & Strategy”, Senior Advocate Ashok Bhan, said, “It has been a decade of significant political shifts in the turbulent territory of Jammu and Kashmir, marked by the Union government’s decision to revoke art 370 and divide the state into two centrally administered territories in August 2019. It was also followed by the alleged attempts at demographic and electoral reconfiguration, including the controversial gerrymandering of assembly seats.”
Despite increasing the number of electoral seats in the less populated areas, he said in Hindu-dominated Jammu region, the trends so far show that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s aspiration to install a non-Kashmiri chief minister seems more like a distant dream than an achievable goal.
“The new age youth is making an informed choice of democracy to reject violence that had consumed almost a generation. The huge participation in elections in parliament election Kashmir voters threw up surprises in the Lok Sabha elections conducted a few months ago, where a jailed leader, Engineer Rashid, won the prestigious North Kashmir seat, beating former chief minister Omar Abdullah.”
Ashok Bhan concluded that this election is a celebration of democracy, a long-awaited festival where the people of Kashmir assert their right to a free and fair electoral process.
“Kashmir has come to terms with the fact that India is here to stay. Kashmiris have realised that if violence has to end then democracy is the only way to bring peace and also a form of resistance.”
