Kashmir Votes, and India hails it as normalcy in a Dominated Region

India’s ruling party worked to make Kashmir’s rural development council elections a showcase. But a visit by Times reporters showed a place still struggling under heavy-handed rule. Votes were counted on Tuesday in the first local elections in Kashmir since the Indian government waged a harsh political and security crackdown in the restive region last year. Officials hailed a solid turnout as a sign that democracy has been restored, but little in Kashmir feels normal. “The voting shows democracy being alive at the grass roots,” the region’s top civil servant,…

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