Rights body demands immediate announcement of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir 

Forum for Human Rights in J&K demands immediate election dates, highlighting security concerns and human rights violations in the region.

The Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir led by a group of concerned citizens has called for an immediate announcement of dates of Legislative Assembly elections in J&K much before the Supreme Court’s deadline of September 30, arguing that “that security should not be a consideration given that elections have been held in far worse security situations”.

The Forum was formed after August 5, 2019, when the special status of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution was revoked by the Parliament and the former State was divided into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh, the latter without an Assembly. Former Union Home Secretary G.K Pillai and Radha Kumar, former member, Group of Interlocutors for J&K, chair the Forum.

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The members of the Forum include Justice Ruma Pal, former judge of the Supreme Court of India; Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts; Justice Bilal Nazki, former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court; Nirupama Rao, former Foreign Secretary; Major-General Ashok Mehta (retd), Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd), abd Lieutenant-General H.S. Panag (retd) among others.

“Delay in the announcement of election dates has given rise to speculation that the legislative assembly might be postponed beyond the Supreme Court’s deadline of September 30, 2024, possibly on grounds of rising militant attacks. Analysts point out that delay would be counterproductive. It will increase alienation and might play into the hands of spoilers,” the Forum said in its report Jammu and Kashmir: A Human Rights Agenda for an Elected Administration.

J&K has been under Central rule since June 2018 when the PDP-BJP alliance collapsed. Assembly elections were last held in 2014.

The report said that after decades of peace, the bordering areas of Poonch and Rajouri districts in the Jammu division re-emerged as a locus for militancy with cross-border infiltration from Pakistani-held territories of the former State. “Armed attacks on civilians and security forces have now spread through Poonch-Rajouri to Doda and Kathua and further, to bordering districts of south Kashmir such as Pulwama. The forest belts connecting these districts have been traditional routes of infiltration since the 1948 invasion by Pakistani tribals supported by the Pakistan army,” the report stated.