President Asif Ali Zardari has categorically rejected the legislative assembly elections in the India-occupied Kashmir (IoK), asserting that the polls were “no substitute for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination”, a statement from the President’s House said on Wednesday.

India-held Kashmir began voting today (Wednesday) in the first local elections since the cancellation of its special semi-autonomous status in 2019, which sparked fury in the valley.

Many in the Muslim-majority territory of 8.7 million registered voters remain bitter over the 2019 order by the Hindu-nationalist government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose control from New Delhi.

President Zardari’s comments came today during a meeting at the Aiwan-i-Sadr with migrants from IOK, who have been residing in Pakistan since 1989, led by Uzair Ahmed Ghazali.

“Welcoming the delegation, the President condemned the Legislative Assembly elections in [IOK], terming them a part of India’s broader strategy to consolidate its illegal occupation of the region,” the statement said.

Zardari highlighted that such measures could neither legitimise India’s occupation nor suppress the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people.

According to the statement, he said that India was trying to alter the demographic structure of IOK by turning Kashmiri Muslims into a minority and transforming them into a disempowered community in their own land.

“Pakistan greatly valued the sacrifices made by the Kashmiri people for their rights and would continue to stand in solidarity with them,” Zardari said while reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to providing moral, political, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people till the realisation of their right to self-determination.

The delegation apprised the president about atrocities being committed in IOK, per the statement.

It was highlighted that the entire Kashmiri leadership had been imprisoned to suppress the voice of the Kashmiri people. The delegation also apprised the President about the issues of the refugees in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

President Zardari said a protest should be lodged over the “illegal steps and atrocities being committed by Indian Occupation Forces in IOK”.

He said that Pakistan was committed to the socio-economic uplift of refugees and resolving their issues.

He assured the delegation that the government of AJK would be asked to enhance subsistence allowance as well as provide other relief measures to Kashmiri refugees.

Zardari also assured the delegation that Pakistan’s social safety net would be extended to include 8,000 migrant families through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

The delegation thanked the president for Pakistan’s continued moral, political, and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri people, the statement said.