LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Residents in India-administered Kashmir begin voting today in its first regional election in a decade. This election comes years after the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi stripped away the territory's statehood and clamped down on people's freedoms. NPR producer Omkar Khandekar joins us from the region's capital, Srinagar. Good morning.
OMKAR KHANDEKAR, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So let's start with why this election is important.
KHANDEKAR: Well, to answer that question, it's helpful to understand where Kashmir is. It's in the snowy Himalayas, wedged between India and Pakistan. Both these nuclear powers have gone to war over it three times. Stuck in the middle are Kashmiris, and a violent insurgency in the territory has killed more than 40,000 people in the last three decades. Five years ago, the Modi government voted to downgrade Kashmir's special powers. Since then, the region has been directly ruled by New Delhi. I spoke to Haseeb Drabu, a former Kashmiri finance minister who says that the downgrade has been humiliating for Kashmiris.
HASEEB DRABU: Everybody feels vanquished and humiliated in terms of how it was done and why it was done.
KHANDEKAR: And he calls this vote a referendum because Kashmiris have been denied any other way to express how they are feeling.
FADEL: A referendum - so are people turning out? What are they saying?
KHANDEKAR: From what I've seen so far, yes. I visited a polling station in Pulwama this morning. That's a town near the administrative capital. Soldiers had fanned through the area to ensure security, and yet it was busy. Men and women were queuing up from early morning. Car owners were making multiple trips to help their friends and neighbors reach the booth. Many were voting for the first time, which in itself is unusual because for decades, many Kashmiris boycotted elections, thinking that polls gave legitimacy to India's rule, like Shahid. He didn't want to use his last name for fear of reprisals. He's a businessman, age 33. This was the first time he had come out to vote.
SHAHID: (Speaking Hindi).
KHANDEKAR: He says, "we can't talk about anything. If we protest, the police beat us up." He says, "it's like living in an open jail."
FADEL: So Kashmiris don't feel free to speak.
KHANDEKAR: Kashmiris tell me they feel like there'll be consequences if they say anything critical about the Indian government. That's more or less been the feeling since Kashmir's statehood was revoked in 2019. Repression is so bad, even candidates running for office tell me that they can't speak openly. I spoke to one local candidate who told me that right now is just about survival and preserving whatever rights they still have left.
FADEL: OK, so this is being called a referendum. But if even candidates are saying they can't speak freely, what powers will this assembly have? Can it tangibly change life for Kashmiris?
KHANDEKAR: So analysts say yes, but only in the long term. They say this election is really about sending a message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, as well as the courts and international observers - the message that the status quo must change.
FADEL: NPR's Omkar Khandekar in Kashmir. Thank you so much.
KHANDEKAR: Thank you.
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