Challenges and Controversies Surrounding Upcoming Regional Elections in Jammu and Kashmir

Voters are going to the polls in Indian-administered Kashmir. It's the first parliamentary elections since Narendra Modi's government cancelled the region's partial autonomy in 2019. And for the first time in years, people aren't boycotting the vote.The prime minister says repealing Kashmir's special status has helped integrate it with the rest of the country. He also says it's brought peace and development after decades of separatist violence. Why then has Modi's party not nominated a candidate to contest the three seats in the Muslim-majority region?

In this episode:

• Noor Ahmad Baba, Retired Political Science Professor, University of Kashmir.
• Sunil Sethi, Chief Spokesman, Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. 
• Radha Kumar, Author, academic and one of three government-appointed interlocutors to represent the views of Kashmiri society to India's Cabinet Committee on Security in 2010. 

Host: Laura Kyle

Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube