In its latest attempt to once again delude public opinion, India's recent four­phase fraudulent "elections" in Indian­occupied Kashmir for the so­called State Legislature Assembly, turned out to be a complete failure.

Furthermore, it has served to further alienate the indigenous population of Kashmir.

In spite of its torturous tactics and the deployment of 700,000 strong Indian occupation forces, abetted by armed mercenaries which happens to be India's Secret Army in Kashmir, a vast majority of the people boycotted the "polls."

Most of the people shown on television lined­up to vote were in fact Indians wearing traditional Kashmiri clothes. A small­segment of Kashmiris, unable to resist Indian repression, were herded and dragged by armed troops to polling booths.

The facts are evident:

§ India turns down US and British recommendation for foreign electoral observers.

§ India did not allow foreign journalists to cover the "election," except those that are stationed in New Delhi.

§ An anti­election general strike called by the All­Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) demonstrated Kashmiris' opposition to Indian sponsored "elections."

§ Shops, offices, business centres, all government and semi­government offices and entire educational institutions remained closed during most of the farcical "polls" period.

§ Occupation authorities frustrated by Kashmiris' overwhelming boycott and their massive support at anti­election campaigns lead to an overnight attack on the office of the APHC, arrested of all its leaders, expulsion of hundreds of activists from their homes and a total ban on further rallies.

§ Almost all the polling stations were under the control of Indian­army­backed­militants, who stamped large quantities of ballot­papers showing a larger turnover than was there in reality.

§ A renowned Indian intellectual and former professor of Jawaharlal University, Darindar Sharma, addressing a press conference in Srinagar, September 29th, said that the people of Kashmir completely boycotted the "elections" and did not exercise their right to vote. He further declared that the "elections" in occupied Kashmir were a big fraud.

Media on sham elections:

"On the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, near Dilena village, 100 people had congregated. They told this reporter [Harish Khare, of The Hindu] that they were waiting for the BSF patrol to come and take them, personally against their wishes, to the polling station. Inside the village, there indeed was a BSF patrol; curiously enough, none of the men had his name plate or badges . . .

"In Baramulla's Iqbal Market, a group of 30 young men felt that going to the polling station would be a betrayal of all those who had died for 'Azadi.' The sentiment was echoed by Haji Gulam Ahmed, a leading fruit merchant of Sopore: 'My 40,000 sons are missing; how can I join the election process. In the Sangarampura area of Sopore, the presence of the reporter provoked slogans 'no elections, no selections,' 'we want freedom.' A group of women protesters also appeared, shouting 'Kukka Parrey Hai Hai.' Inquiries revealed that a group of surrendered militants had forced the voters to come out and go to polling booths . . .

"Perhaps the most unpleasant incident took place at Toojar, near Sopore. Two young boys had died in a blast and agitated villagers had brought the bodies to the sub-district hospital in Sopore. They told this reporter that the boys died because Army personnel had fired a mortar rocket into a play field . . . ," The Hindu, September 8th. (Indian media)

"The people of the Kashmir valley are not in favour of elections. This was demonstrated through anti-election demonstration in Pulwama, Tral and Srinagar . . . in Pulwama, not even a single vote was polled until 12.30 p.m. In many centres in Anantnag, the poll percentage was less than 6 per cent by 4:00 p.m., one hour before polling ended," The Times of India, September 28th.

"In Tral Constituency, in Pulwama, voting was entirely an Army show with not a single polling agent of any party in the polling booths for Nawdal, Gulabbagh, Naibagh and Sheerabad. In Nawdal, villagers were rounded up at 9:00 a.m. in an open space by the roadside with Army jawans standing guard over them. Villagers claimed that 50 Army men had gone to the village and were forcing them to go to the polling booths though they did not want to. In Sheerabad, where reluctant voters formed long queues, it was an Army jawan of the Bihar Regiment who sat in the middle of the village with the voters list, marking the serial number of every voter on his hand.

"... the elections, with jawans of the Army and in one instance an officer of the Special Task Force virtually running away after the Press arrived to check out the allegation of intimidation . . . ," The Statesman, September 17th. (Indian media)

"We have been brought here forcibly, a young voter speaks right into the camera even before being asked to. Others take the cue and soon 'zabardasti' becomes the buzzword around. 'Army aaye, unhonee kaha vote dalo nahin to hum ungli katenge' (Army told us to cast votes or else they would chop off our fingers)," United News of India, September 17th.

"A number of polling stations in the state summer capital were also seen under the control of pro-India militants . . . ,

"Moslem clerics at two mosques near Srinagar's 'martyrs' graveyard' -- the site where victims of alleged official repression are buried -- said troops were trying to intimidate a reluctant electorate in their area," the AFP, September 21.

"Widespread coercion and intimidation was used to force Kashmiris to cast their votes. Loud hailers were used to instruct people to come out of their homes to vote or else face a crackdown and house search in the evening. In one of the constituencies where a prominent pro-India candidate Mufti Sayeed had stood, just one voter turned up to cast his vote among a population of 5000 eligible voters in the area. In Shopian town of South Kashmir, trucks loaded with people, among them security forces dressed as civilians were taken to polling booths to cast votes. In most areas of South Kashmir the overall turnout was between 2 - 5%," Sanjay Sirvastav of BBC, reported live from Kashmir, September 16th.

"Soldiers fired tear gas and wielded batons to disperse about 20 women who had gathered in Srinagar's main business centre Thursday to protest the elections," Associated Press, September 22nd.

"But many Kashmiris said they trooped to the ballot box only under threats and pressure from the Indian army and security forces . . . ," The Gazette Montreal, September 8th.

Repression:

In an interview with Ritu Sarin of The Indian Express, India's military Governor of Jammu and Kashmir General K V Krishna Rao admitted that the Government in New Delhi pressured him from time to time to use excessive force to suppress the freedom movement in Kashmir.

"Reflecting on his three-year long tenure in the state, he said he had on many occasions resisted pressure from New Delhi to use force to defuse a volatile situation.

"Withstanding interference from the Centre, he had also kept the counter-insurgent groups, particularly the one led by Kukka Parrey, under the control of the Army, he has claimed. (Parrey is the only Awami League candidate to have won in these elections.)

"The Governor confessed that during the siege of the Hazratbal shrine and tackling of the law and order situation in Sopore, he was under pressure from the Centre [New Delhi] to use excessive force . . . " The Indian Express, October 4th, 1996.

"A pro-India activist leader, on October 11th, warned Dr. Farooq Abdullah'a administration of dire consequences if it attempts to disarm his cadres. 'No power in India or Kashmir can disarm us,' claimed the chief commander of pro-India Muslim Mujahideen, Nabi Azad, during a news conference . . . ," The Asian Age, October 12th. (Indian media)

A futile exercise:

The message India wanted to send to the world was that after seven­years of mass uprising for their right of self­determination, India has obtained a popular mandate from the people of Kashmir legitimising its control over Jammu and Kashmir. India can hope all it wants but this dream appears to be totally elusive.

"This week, India staged what it called an 'election' in Kashmir designed to demonstrate popular support for an Indian puppet government. Indian troops forced Kashmiris from their homes at gunpoint and herded them into polling stations. Those who voted against the Indian quisling regime faced reprisals, or even death.

"New Delhi proclaimed a great victory and announced the Kashmiri quest for independence, or union with Pakistan, was over for good. No one in India or Kashmir believes such nonsense, and no one abroad should either. The real outcome of this rigged, gunpoint election was to make India look even more brutal and clumsy than ever," wrote Mr. Eric Margolis in The Toronto Sun, September 19, 1996.

"A British parliamentary group said that elections in Kashmir, which India hopes will end a six-year regional revolt, would be neither free nor fair. 'The people of Kashmir are not going to be able to vote on the one thing that is important to them and that is the constitutional position of the territory,' Lord Avebury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, told Reuters. 'To say the elections will end the problem when they do not even address this issue and there are half a million troops in the area seems absurd,' he said," Reuters, October 6th.

The people of Kashmir overwhelmingly rejected September's fraud "elections" because less than two per cent of the people participated in it, stated Mr. Mushtaq A. Jeelani, Executive Director of the Kashmiri­Canadian Council (KCC). He maintains that the almost total boycott of Indian "election" indicates a clear rejection of Indian presence in Kashmir.

First­hand reports of this gunpoint "election" demonstrate a total lack of legitimacy for Indian rule and Kashmiri­Canadians join with the people of Kashmir in rejecting India's continued presence in the area.

The "elections" might give the impression of a democratic process to the outside world, but for the people of Kashmir it only serves to escalate India's brutality and repression.

Moreover, the issue at stake is the future determination of 13­million Kashmiris who are being oppressed by an alien power for demanding a promised plebiscite under the supervision of the United Nations.

Syed Ali Shah Gilani, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami and a prominent leader of the APHC, speaking on the telephone with Mr. Jeelani, said that the people of Kashmir have rejected the sham election that was imposed upon them by the Indian occupation authorities. "The people of Kashmir will only accept the plebiscite as enshrined in successive resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and guaranteed by both India and Pakistan."

The KCC urged leaders of the G­7 countries, the Commonwealth and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, to examine the validity of these "elections" under international law. Secondly, Western nations including Canada should exert diplomatic pressure on India to cease human rights violations and release thousands of Kashmiri political prisoners. Thirdly, world leaders should help to resolve the Kashmir dispute peacefully.

The KCC updated Ottawa of events during the weeks of "polling" in Kashmir, and hopefully Canada will play a leadership role to help the people of Kashmir achieve their right of self­determination and will pursue the issue in multilateral fora as aggressively as it is pursuing the issue of democracy in Nigeria.