Poll Boycott; Clear Message For India: JRL

On the culmination of the last phase of the drama staged by India in the name of local bodies' elections in Indian occupied Kashmir, the Joint Resistance Leadership has said that the rejection of election ploy by more than 95 percent people is a clear indication of Kashmiris' complete alienation from India.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Oct, 2018 ) :On the culmination of the last phase of the drama staged by India in the name of local bodies' elections in Indian occupied Kashmir, the Joint Resistance Leadership has said that the rejection of election ploy by more than 95 percent people is a clear indication of Kashmiris' complete alienation from India.

JRL comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik in a statement issued in Srinagar said, "The leadership deeply appreciates and commends people for the political maturity and commitment to the cause of self-determination shown by them in a comprehensive boycott of this sham election." according to Kashmir Media Service.

The leaders said, "This coercive and harassing exercise of so-called elections, where candidates, polling areas and even polling stations were undisclosed by the ruling authorities, where scores of secret candidates were chosen unopposed was mainly carried out at this time, to help the BJP in its electoral prospects in India next year and to thrust the party on people of the Kashmir." By rejecting the election drama, the JRL said, the people of Kashmir have conveyed that since 1947 being under control, elections have made no difference to them as directly or indirectly through pro-India regional parties, it is a government of India which rules them and whose writ runs here.

In reality, it is Indian military might that rules here whose consequence is severe repression and coercion in people. In such situations, democratic processes lose all credibility and carry no meaning and are reduced to a farce. The JRL reiterated that J&K was a dispute and its people were asking for resolution of the dispute. "They are not interested in selection or election and no election can ever be a substitute for that resolution or a way to it." The leadership advised India to accept this fact and work towards the resolution of the conflict as per the democratic principle of people's aspirations and will.

The JRL said, "By government of India's own admission, 95 percent people's rejection of these so-called elections, forced upon them by New Delhi, is a clear indication that the alienation of people of Kashmir from India is complete."Meanwhile, the JRL expressed serious concern over sedition charges leveled against two Kashmiri students studying at the Aligarh Muslim University for allegedly trying to offer funeral prayers for scholar Dr Manan Wani.