Lessons from Kashmiris’ record 2024 election turnout – for Kashmir and New Delhi

On 20 May 2024, 77-year-old Ali Mohammad voted for the first time in an Indian parliamentary election – much to the surprise of his family and neighbours in Srinagar. Mohammad describes himself as a longtime “supporter” of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, a political outfit that advocates for self-determination for the Kashmiri people. The Indian government has accused the organisation of wanting to merge the Indian-administered territories of Kashmir with Pakistan, which also lays claim to the area, and of supporting Hizbul Mujahideen, a Pakistan-affiliated militant organisation fighting Indian forces. 

In recent decades, Srinagar, the largest city in Indian-administered Kashmir, has largely chosen not to vote, fuelled by boycott calls from separatist groups that have typically viewed the electoral process as legitimising India’s control over the city and the territory. But when India went to the polls this year, Mohammed said, senior members of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir decided not to call for a boycott.