Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=01/15/01

CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-271383

TITLE=KASHMIR ELECTIONS / L-O

CORRESPONDENT=ANJANA PASRICHA

DATELINE=NEW DELHI

INTRO: Local elections are being held in Indian Kashmir for the first time

in more than two decades. But, as Anjana Pasricha reports, Kashmiri

separatist groups have called for a boycott of the polls.

TEXT: Hundreds of Indian soldiers stood guard Monday as voting was held to

elect local councils for 125 villages in Indian Kashmir's border districts, Kupwara, Poonch and Rajouri. It is the first phase of five-stage local

elections that will be completed in March.

Authorities say polling went smoothly, despite threats by Islamic

militant groups to disrupt the elections. Officials say villagers turned out

in large numbers to cast their votes.

The turnout in elections held in recent years in Kashmir has been poor. Only

six percent of those eligible voted in state elections held in 1996.

Monday's voting was held in some of Kashmir's most-backward and remote

regions, bordering Pakistan. Authorities say a lull in cross-border shelling

on the tense India-Pakistan border enabled villagers to take part in the

polls.

Political participation was low-key. Most of those contesting the polls were members of the state's ruling pro-India National Conference Party.

Kashmir's most-prominent separatist political alliance - the All Parties

Huriyat Conference - has dismissed the polls as a "farce." A top leader of

the group, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, says the local elections are "ill-timed" and

could scuttle a peace process initiated by New Delhi for the insurgency-wracked region.

However, the Huriyat Conference says it wants to carry forward the peace

process in Kashmir. It has expressed hope New Delhi will grant

permission to a five-member delegation to proceed to Pakistan this week. The

delegation plans to discuss India's peace initiative with Islamabad's

military leaders and Islamic militant groups.

Kashmir is a disputed region divided between India and Pakistan. It

has been wracked with a muslim insurgency since 1989. (signed)

neb / aj / wd