Foreign diplomats tour polling booths in Jammu and Kashmir  

In a first, foreign diplomats from 15 countries on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) arrived in Kashmir to observe the electoral process. They expressed satisfaction over the process here after touring several polling booths. However, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah termed it “a guided tour”.

“It’s a rare opportunity to come to Kashmir and see the electoral process and see democracy in action. And also see another part of India’s big year of elections. Election process looks very smooth and very professional. Everything is well set-up. It looks like a very exciting exercise. We are very pleased as diplomats and as visitors to see the process and to learn about how Indian democracy works,” U.S. diplomat Jorgen Andrews said.

Live updates for the Jammu and Kashmir Elections

His statement assumes significance because reports of the U.S. Congress after 2019 were critical of the handling of the situation in Kashmir. These reports mainly focused on “restoring democratic processes in J&K”. Therefore, the visit is a major diplomatic victory for the Centre to showcase a peaceful and participatory election process in J&K and form a positive world opinion on Kashmir, especially in the backdrop of 35 years of militancy.

“Elections are being organised in a typical fashion [in J&K]. It is a good chance to see a sub-national level election, with Kashmir’s history and it’s exciting to see elections after 10 years here,” Mr. Andrews said.

The 15-member team invited by the External Affairs Ministry was allowed to visit multiple polling booths in Budgam and Srinagar districts, where polling was held in 11 constituencies in the second phase.

Besides the U.S., the diplomats were from Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Philippines.

“It’s very similar to how we conduct elections in Singapore and use government buildings for polling stations for easy access to voters. Our purpose is to observe polling and to see how democracy is working on the ground (in Kashmir). In Delhi, we would not get to see, because of regulations, polling inside the polling stations. We are grateful to the MEA,” Alice Cheng, a Singaporean diplomat, said.

Pink booths

The diplomats also evoked a keen interest in the special pink polling booths set up for female voters in Srinagar. Most of them said they “had not seen Pink Polling stations before”. “Pink polling station is very ingenuous. It is a great way to attract more people to come to vote,” South Korea diplomat Sang Woo Lim said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Abdullah took exception to the Centre’s move to bring foreign diplomats to Kashmir. “The Government of India dismisses comments on J&K by foreign governments as India’s internal matter but on the contrary, has invited foreign diplomats as observers to elections. I don’t know why foreigners should be asked to check elections here,” he said.

“Why are only guided tours offered to foreign diplomats? Why aren’t foreign journalists permitted to cover the event? The real credit for the successful polling turnout belongs to the individuals who have actively participated in exercising their right to vote in the assembly elections after a decade,” he asked.

J&K Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari welcomed the move. “Let them see how peaceful elections are and they could replicate it. See how violence erupts during U,S, elections,” he said.