Kashmir's dominant militant group, the Hizbul Mujahideen, called Saturday for a boycott of forthcoming village-level elections, the first to be held in two decades.
"Village elections are being held not only to harm the people on the political front but also to create chaos and confusion, which could lead to civil war in Kashmir," Hizbul's deputy chief commander Mujahid Masood said in a press statement here.
The village-level polls are being held under "conspiracy, and there is a need to thwart the same," he said.
The polls are being held in the troubled state in a phases next month after a gap of 23 years.
"Taking part in any polls under Indian dispensation is bound to cause harm to the on-going movement and Hizbul would come out with a policy on thwarting the polls soon," he asked.
Hizbul even asked the main separatist political alliance, the All Party Hurriet Conference (APHC) "to clarify its stand on the upcoming village polls."
In October the APHC had described the village polls as futile.
"The polls will be held to mislead the international community that everything is right in Kashmir," the APHC said then in a statement.
"Elections are no solution to the perplexed problem called Kashmir," it added.
The Hizbul deputy chief also said that the APHC delegates who are to visit Islamabad next month "would exhibit the sincerity and seriousness with which the APHC intends to resolve Kashmir issue."
Official sources have indicated that New Delhi is in favor of providing travel documents to only four APHC leaders to enable them to visit Pakistan.
But they say the government will probably withhold the passport of firebrand leader, Syed Ali Geelani, who has termed the unilateral cease-fire by India as a ploy to "buy-time for crushing militancy."
India had initiated a two-month unilateral cease-fire in Kashmir from the end of November, which was rejected by most hardline guerrilla groups based in Pakistan.
Islamabad, however, responded by partially withdrawing troops from along the disputed Kashmiri border.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and supporting a Muslim insurgency in the area of Kashmir administered by New Delhi. The neighbors have fought two wars and a border conflict last year over Kashmir.
Muslim militancy in Indian-administered Kashmir and New Delhi's efforts to contain it have claimed more than 34,000 lives since 1989 -- SRINAGAR (AFP)
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