Kashmir is claimed in full but is partly ruled by nuclear arch rivals India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars for control of the Himalayan region.

India partially stripped its semi-autonomous territory in 2019, amending India’s constitution to allow non-Kashmiris to vote and own land in the region.

The new rules, introduced by electoral authorities in one of the region’s 20 districts on Tuesday, allow those who have lived in Kashmir for a year or more to register to vote, unlike previous rules which only freed people living in Kashmir. in the area in 1947. , or its descendants.

Political parties opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party fear the new rule will be replicated in other districts and say it is an attempt to change the region’s demographics in favor of Hindus.

“The government is continuing its plan to add 25 lakh (2.5 million) non-local voters to J&K and we continue to oppose this move,” tweeted the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference late Tuesday, one of the main parties in the state.

Former chief minister and member of the J&K Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti also criticized the rule, calling it “an attempt to create religious and regional divisions between Jammu and Kashmir”.

Authorities are revising voter lists in Kashmir’s 20 electoral districts and Federal Interior Minister Amit Shah said last week that elections would be held once the revised lists were published.

Kashmir last voted in India’s 2019 parliamentary elections, months before the territory was stripped of its autonomy.

Modi’s government said in August that it expected to add 2.5 million more voters to Kashmir’s list under the rule changes, which would increase its readership by more than a third from the current 7.6 million.