Restrictions on the Right to Participation 

In a move that will further undermine political representation and voice of Kashmiri Muslims, Jammu & Kashmir Administration announced on 17 August 2022 that Indian citizens who are temporary residents of Jammu & Kashmir would be allowed to vote in local elections. The prior condition of a domicile certificate, available only to local residents, being mandatory to be able to vote, has been done away with. With this change, J&K is likely to add 2.5 million persons to its voter list, a jump of 33 per cent in three years. Observers have termed this as the last nail in the coffin of democracy in Kashmir, and another step towards government’s plans for demographic change in this lone Muslim-majority region. Earlier, in a hasty drive to rearrange assembly constituencies, the central Delimitation Commission has given an award that under-represents Muslim-majority Kashmir in favour of Hindu majority Jammu.