A controversy has erupted in Indian-administered Kashmir over a proposal to redraw the region’s electoral map.
The draft proposes an increase in assembly seats that could raise the influence of the Hindu-dominated Jammu region in the disputed region’s electoral politics.
Residents of the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley fear this will reduce their say in choosing leaders. Mainstream political leaders say this could sound the death knell for pro-India politics in the region.
The latest move comes on the heels of various other measures that have increased the sense of alienation people in Muslim-majority Kashmir feel from the rest of India, which is overwhelmingly Hindu.
Relations between Kashmir and Delhi have been tense for decades but became worse after 2019 - when Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government stripped Jammu and Kashmir state of its special status and divided it into two federally-administered territories.
It also imposed restrictive measures, including a security crackdown and communication blockade that cut off the region from the world for several months.
An insurgency in Kashmir against Indian rule has claimed thousands of lives over the past three decades.
Kashmir is one of the world’s most militarised zones, where alleged excesses committed by security forces against civilians have led to massive anger and resentment, regularly sparking huge protests.
What is the issue over constituencies?
The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission, headed by a former Supreme Court judge, has proposed six additional assembly seats for Jammu and only one more for the Kashmir valley - if passed, this would take their total tally to 43 and 47.
Delimitation refers to redrawing the boundaries of assembly seats to represent changes in population over time.
It’s a routine exercise to ensure that all constituencies, whether parliamentary or for state assemblies, have an almost equal number of voters.
The commission was set up in March 2020 and was extended earlier this year as work fell behind schedule due to the Covid-19 lockdown. They met politicians in Jammu and Kashmir to hear their views during the process. The proposal comes in the wake of repeated assurances by Modi’s Government that it will hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir - the first since 2016 when the last government collapsed - once the exercise is completed.
The region is currently administered by a lieutenant governor who is directly appointed by Delhi.
But politicians in Kashmir have questioned why their region has been singled out for the process now when it’s not due to take place across the rest of India until after 2026. - BBC