• Congress spox castigates BJP govt for abolishing Article 370.
• Accuses Modi of tyrannical politics in occupied Kashmir.
• Pawan Khera says alliance will restore rights of IIOJK. 

A day before local elections in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), India's main opposition party, Congress, pledged to restore statehood to the disputed territory, Indian media reported.

Three-phased elections begin in the occupied Muslim-majority region from tomorrow (Wednesday), IIOJK's first regional assembly polls in a decade — and the first since New Delhi abrogated the semi-autonomous status of the disputed region and imposed direct rule in 2019 — with 8.7 million eligible voters.

About 500,000 Indian troops have been deployed in IIOJK for decades. The region saw an unending series of bans on Kashmiri parties, curfews, crackdowns, and killings of civilians and freedom fighters struggling for their right to self-determination by the UN resolutions.

Launching a tirade against the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for abolishing Article 370 — which granted special status to the disputed region — Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that occupied Kashmir's rights were stripped, its statehood revoked, and it was reduced to a Union Territory.

He vowed that Congress  — contesting the polls in alliance with the National Conference (NC)— would restore the rights of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Khera accused Modi of tyrannical politics in occupied Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370.

Meanwhile, endorsing Modi's obstinacy and fascism on the Kashmir issue, Union Minister Amit Shah asserted that Article 370 is now a part of history and cannot be restored.

IIOJK's special semi-autonomous status — constitutionally enshrined power to control its affairs — meant only those who descended from residents of the territory in 1934 could vote and own property.

That changed in 2019 when Modi's government scrapped those rules and imposed direct governance from New Delhi. The move was an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.

Subsequently, a batch of petitions challenged the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in November last year and a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud heard the matter.

Later in Dec 2023, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that Article 370 was a temporary provision and that the occupied territory was an integral part of the country.