SRINAGAR, Jan 29 (2005): Muslim rebels trying to derail Indian Kashmir’s first municipal polls in almost three decades killed a candidate hours before voting began on Saturday.
Rebels fighting Indian rule in the Himalayan region, at the centre of tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, have called for a boycott of the elections to choose town councils and mayors for the first time in 27 years.
Voting is taking place over several days amid tight security, just a week before leaders of India and Pakistan are due to attend a regional summit in Bangladesh.
“It is an historic election, now people will have more participation in governance,” said Mehbooba Mufti, leader of Indian Kashmir’s ruling People’s Democratic Party.
The candidate was killed and another wounded in separate attacks on Friday night, police said.
On Thursday, 26 people were wounded when separatists fired grenades at an election office on the outskirts of Srinagar, Kashmir’s main city.
India accuses Pakistan of stoking the revolt in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.
The neighbours accused each other this week of violating a nearly 14-month-old ceasefire along the Line of Control dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir.
