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Can Kashmir move forward after pivotal elections nod to Hindus and Muslims?

The Kashmir valley and its chief city of Srinagar are nestled beneath the snowy Himalayan mountains and have been written about and praised by travelers, naturalists, and poets for centuries.

At mid-century, the valley was considered so genteel and such an example of multi-ethnic and multi-religious harmony, that Mahatma Gandhi called it the hope of India. Yet when the British quit their colonial rule, the princely ruler of Kashmir schemed to have Kashmir - 70 percent Muslim and 20 percent Hindu - occupied by India, greatly angering Pakistan, which has since claimed the valley was stolen.

Kashmir is supposed to operate with great autonomy. But as Syed Nazakat writes below, local anger at Indian-run elections in 1988 brought a militant insurgency that continues to this day and has resulted in a lost generation. Some 300,000 to 500,000 Indian troops are still deployed in the valley and are deeply resented by the now-97 percent Muslim population. Kashmir at a crossroads. Will the valley inch closer to India?

The Kashmir conflict has dragged on so long that it has consumed an entire generation and brought two nuclear powers - India and Pakistan - to the brink of war. Frustration and anger have become all too normal in a place that Mahatma Gandhi once called the hope of India.

Now after two decades of violence and more than 50,000 deaths, Kashmir is at a political and strategic crossroads. Amid an elusive peace and almost daily gun-battles, people are now flocking to the polls despite pressure by militants to boycott local elections whose results will be announced Tuesday[12/23/24].

A change of government is all but certain, and it will come amid changes of attitude in the Kashmir valley where many people are considering whether they have any real choice but to reconcile with India.
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For Indians, the elections play as a great show of democracy. Prime Minister Modi's Hindu BJP party is keen to seek gains in a place where it has never been a serious player. Mr. Modi, who swept to power in the general Indian elections in May, is running a lavish campaign and traveled to Srinigar to speak and hold out a promise of peace and jobs. He has for the first time questioned the behavior of the Indian Army - which many foreign journalists over the years have described as a virtual occupation, with more than 300,000 troops in a valley that is 97 percent Muslim.

"I have come to give you justice," Modi told audiences during rallies.