Srinagar: In a bid to mask the grim reality in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, India has invited around 20 foreign diplomats from prominent nations, including the US, France and Germany, to witness the contentious elections in the disputed territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, this cunningly crafted two-day trip, set to begin on September 25, aims to manipulate global perception and downplay the escalating tensions in the UN-recognized disputed territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A diplomat from a P5 country protested the MEA\u2019s repeated denials of permission for earlier requests to visit the region. Another diplomatic source declined the invitation due to unclear scheduling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move has raised eyebrows, with critics arguing that it is an attempt to showcase a false mantra of normalcy in the territory, which has been stripped of its special status in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They ask how an election can replace a UN-promised plebiscite to determine the political future of the internationally recognized disputed territory. UN resolutions, they say, clearly state that elections cannot substitute for resolving the Kashmir dispute. The critics counter the credibility of elections as thousands of Kashmiris, including leaders, youth, women, clerics, lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists, are jailed, silencing their voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also argue why the diplomats will have a limited access during their visit, with some describing it as a \u201cguided tour.\u201d Additionally, some embassies have complained about the short notice period for the invitation. The Canadian High Commission was notably excluded from the invitation, sparking questions about the criteria for selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not the first time India has organized such a visit. In 2020, the government took foreign diplomats to Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370, aiming to demonstrate the territory\u2019s progress towards normalcy and development. However, the international community remains skeptical about India\u2019s intentions especially when Kashmiris\u2019 identity and rights have been snatched the territory has been divided for political gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite India\u2019s claims of normalcy, the territory has witnessed an uptick in violence. The international community is urged to look beyond the guided tour and consider the complexities of the territory\u2019s situation. The visit has also been criticized by Kashmiri leaders, who argue that elections cannot replace the UN-promised plebiscite to determine the region\u2019s political future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KMS<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: In a bid to mask the grim reality in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, India has invited around 20 foreign diplomats from prominent nations, including the US, France and Germany, to witness the contentious elections in the disputed territory. According to Kashmir Media Service, this cunningly crafted two-day trip, set to begin on September 25, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,84,396],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-india","category-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8668"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}