SRINAGAR, Jan 30 (1998): Kashmir’s chief Moslem priest called for a boycott of India’s upcoming national elections here Friday as part of the region’s campaign for independence.
Omar Farooq told more than 100,000 worshipers celebrating the Moslem festival of Eid al-Fitr not to vote for any party.
“Elections are no solution to the Kashmir issue. We have not sacrifieced more than 50,000 people for elections, but for our freedom.”
Farooq is also one of the leaders of the Freedom Conference, an umbrella group of separatist organisations, which has said it will only take part if the elections are supervised by the UN.
Moslem-majority Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and has sparked two wars since 1947. Both countries claim the territory.
More than 20,000 militants, soldiers and civilians, according to Indian statistics, have died in Indian-administered Kashmir since the start of a Moslem separatist campaign in 1989.
India accuses Pakistan of fuelling the violence by infiltrating militants into its territory. Islamabad says its support is limited to diplomacy.
Indian-administered Kashmir held its first state elections in almost a decade in 1996. Those elections were also boycotted by the Freedom Conference.
