Hurriyat urges people in Kashmir to shun election

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - The All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, Kashmir's main separatist alliance on Friday appealed to the people of the region to boycott India's general election, prompting authorities to place two separatist leaders under house arrest.

The decision by the alliance, which bands nearly a dozen political, social and separatist groups, comes after United Jihad Council (UJC) asked the separatist alliance to support their call to shun the poll.

UJC is a Pakistan-based amalgam of 13-militant groups fighting Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state.

"Elections are no substitute for the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and for the resolution of the dispute," Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in a statement.

India's general election began last week, but voting in the Kashmir valley has been split into three phases starting from April 30.

The staggered voting is to allow thousands of security forces to move around the troubled region.

Besides Congress and its main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the regional National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party are also contesting in the Himalayan region.

"Elections in the presence of 700,000 Indian troops is itself a dispute. I appeal to people to stay away from polls," Farooq said. link...