‘Bound to Draw Attention’: J&K Parties on Key US Diplomat's Comments on Kashmir

Srinagar: The regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have agreed with a top US diplomat on his comments during a senate hearing about the situation amidst the lack of electoral process in the union territory.

Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu, testified before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee earlier on Wednesday on several issues around the India-US relationship. He expressed concern over the human rights situation in India and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

“As the world’s largest democracy, India has a vibrant civil society, a free media, and an independent judicial system. However, we are concerned about human rights challenges, including the lack of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and reports of ongoing human rights abuses,” Lu said.

The senior diplomat, who has served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi between 2010 and 2013, said that he had travelled to Kashmir eight times, including during the Kargil War. India continues to report infiltration by militants into Jammu and Kashmir, although cross-border infiltration has "reduced markedly" over the past two years.

The statement emerging from the subcommittee urging India to hold assembly elections in J&K has been a consistent stand of the US since August 5, 2019, Adnan Ashraf Mir of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference said.

The PC spokesperson also pointed out that in an increasingly "transactional state" of international relations, the "leverage" of foreign governments to influence the internal decisions of a sovereign nation has decreased. "However, it must be a matter of concern for the MEA to have its most valuable strategically making frequent references to lack of democracy in J&K," Mir added.

A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader who wished to remain anonymous because of the fear of reprisal from the authorities said the situation is increasingly becoming worrisome, something that is bound to draw the international community's attention.

“It is a sorry state of affairs nevertheless. Those who were claiming to settle the issue of Kashmir once for all (with the abrogation of special status and subsequent clampdown on people) are realising that the Kashmir issue is being discussed in power capitals every day," the PDP leader told NewsClick.

Mir, in a statement, said there has already been a 'significant' delay in holding assembly elections and giving the people of J&K their democratic right to elect their government while arguing that conducting assembly elections at the earliest is “imperative.”

“We urge the government to listen to the voices of the people of J&K and hand over governance back to the inhabitants of the place. Restoring democracy in J&K would require a long, uninterrupted process of engagement to rebuild trust,” he said.

The BJP led central government has indicated that elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which a Lt. Governor-led administration currently governs, will be held after the delimitation process is complete. The demarcation of constituencies is expected to be completed in May after the panel was granted an extension of two months from March.

Even as the assembly election is likely to be held later this year – amidst mounting pressure from the US— for political parties in J&K, the restoration of statehood to the erstwhile state is a crucial demand, they believe, to empower democracy in the region.

National Conference leader Hasnain Masoodi lamented how the largest democracy in the world was disenfranchising 13 million people of J&K. “We have been cautioning the Government of India about this. The situation here could not have gone unnoticed. The GoI should not have nursed this impression,” the Member of Parliament from South Kashmir was quoted as saying.

Lu, in his testimony, also touched upon the deteriorating situation for journalists in Kashmir. “We have not seen the free movement of journalists. We have seen the detention in fact of some prominent journalists in the Kashmir valley,” he said.