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SRINAGAR, India -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday defended India's decades-long military presence in the disputed Kashmir region, saying troops were there to safeguard the country's democracy against separatist rebels.
He deplored a series of rebel attacks on Friday that killed 21 people, including eight Indian soldiers and three police officers.
"Our soldiers have sacrificed their lives to safeguard democracy," he told a campaign rally in Samba town in the disputed Himalayan territory, which is holding local elections this month. "Now you must vote to safeguard their sacrifices."
Modi was in Kashmir for the third time in a month, campaigning heavily in hopes of helping his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party win a first-ever majority in India's only Muslim-majority state, where rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
Pro-India Kashmiri parties promise to boost development and infrastructure if they win, while separatists say the polls are an illegitimate exercise under a military occupation that dates back to India's independence in 1947.
Modi was scheduled later Monday to address a second campaign rally in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar.
Hundreds of people from the countryside and towns had arrived by bus and taxi for that rally, in a sports stadium festooned with orange BJP flags and huge banners bearing Modi's face.
The incumbent chief minister, Omar Abdullah, complained that the rally was being packed with residents from Hindu majority areas of the state such as Jammu. "Why not just have the rally there?" he said on his official Twitter feed. Abdullah, from Kashmir's largest pro-India regional party, has been the region's top elected official since 2008.
Voter Abdul Jabbar, 50, said he was attending Modi's rally in Srinagar in hopes that the prime minister would help the mountainous region tackle rampant corruption and unemployment -- promises Modi has repeatedly made at the national level.
"He is the prime minister of India, and has the power to tackle our issues," Jabbar said.
Many Kashmiris are also hoping a new government would speed efforts to rebuild Srinagar and other towns devastated by extreme flooding in September.
The region was on high alert Monday with paramilitary snipers on rooftops, road barricades and sniffer dogs near rally sites. A daytime curfew was imposed in some parts of Srinagar barring residents from leaving their homes. Main roads leading into the city were lined with razor wire to contain traffic, while police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled on foot and in armoured vehicles.
Officials said they were taking no risks with Modi in the fractious region before a third day of voting is held on Tuesday. The elections are being held in five stages to allow government forces to better guard against any violence or anti-India protests. Results are due Dec. 23.
On Sunday night, a suspected rebel hurled a grenade that injured one soldier at a paramilitary post in the southern town of Tral, police said.
Authorities have detained hundreds of separatist leaders and activists in recent days who had called for an election boycott.
Shops, schools and other businesses were shuttered Monday after the separatist umbrella group All Parties Hurriyat Conference called for a general strike to "send a clear message to Indian leadership that Kashmiris have never accepted the dominance and hegemony of Indian union and they would decide their political future only through right to self-determination."
More than 68,000 people have been killed since 1989 in the rebel uprising and a subsequent Indian military crackdown that has suppressed most rebel activity.
Kashmir is also claimed by Pakistan, which India accuses of supporting the rebels with arms and training. Pakistan denies the allegation, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support for their cause.
India and Pakistan fought two of their three wars since 1947 over rival claims to Kashmir.
Read more: India's military presence in Kashmir guards democracy, prime minister says | CP24.com
He deplored a series of rebel attacks on Friday that killed 21 people, including eight Indian soldiers and three police officers.
"Our soldiers have sacrificed their lives to safeguard democracy," he told a campaign rally in Samba town in the disputed Himalayan territory, which is holding local elections this month. "Now you must vote to safeguard their sacrifices."
Modi was in Kashmir for the third time in a month, campaigning heavily in hopes of helping his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party win a first-ever majority in India's only Muslim-majority state, where rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
Pro-India Kashmiri parties promise to boost development and infrastructure if they win, while separatists say the polls are an illegitimate exercise under a military occupation that dates back to India's independence in 1947.
Modi was scheduled later Monday to address a second campaign rally in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar.
Hundreds of people from the countryside and towns had arrived by bus and taxi for that rally, in a sports stadium festooned with orange BJP flags and huge banners bearing Modi's face.
The incumbent chief minister, Omar Abdullah, complained that the rally was being packed with residents from Hindu majority areas of the state such as Jammu. "Why not just have the rally there?" he said on his official Twitter feed. Abdullah, from Kashmir's largest pro-India regional party, has been the region's top elected official since 2008.
Voter Abdul Jabbar, 50, said he was attending Modi's rally in Srinagar in hopes that the prime minister would help the mountainous region tackle rampant corruption and unemployment -- promises Modi has repeatedly made at the national level.
"He is the prime minister of India, and has the power to tackle our issues," Jabbar said.
Many Kashmiris are also hoping a new government would speed efforts to rebuild Srinagar and other towns devastated by extreme flooding in September.
The region was on high alert Monday with paramilitary snipers on rooftops, road barricades and sniffer dogs near rally sites. A daytime curfew was imposed in some parts of Srinagar barring residents from leaving their homes. Main roads leading into the city were lined with razor wire to contain traffic, while police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled on foot and in armoured vehicles.
Officials said they were taking no risks with Modi in the fractious region before a third day of voting is held on Tuesday. The elections are being held in five stages to allow government forces to better guard against any violence or anti-India protests. Results are due Dec. 23.
On Sunday night, a suspected rebel hurled a grenade that injured one soldier at a paramilitary post in the southern town of Tral, police said.
Authorities have detained hundreds of separatist leaders and activists in recent days who had called for an election boycott.
Shops, schools and other businesses were shuttered Monday after the separatist umbrella group All Parties Hurriyat Conference called for a general strike to "send a clear message to Indian leadership that Kashmiris have never accepted the dominance and hegemony of Indian union and they would decide their political future only through right to self-determination."
More than 68,000 people have been killed since 1989 in the rebel uprising and a subsequent Indian military crackdown that has suppressed most rebel activity.
Kashmir is also claimed by Pakistan, which India accuses of supporting the rebels with arms and training. Pakistan denies the allegation, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support for their cause.
India and Pakistan fought two of their three wars since 1947 over rival claims to Kashmir.
Read more: India's military presence in Kashmir guards democracy, prime minister says | CP24.com
