A phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir has opened in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the main city in Himalayan Kashmir to campaign for his party in the staggered local election in the first such vote since New Delhi stripped the disput

Once a powerful force in the region, separatist movement Jamaat-e-Islami’s surprise return to electoral politics after decades of boycotting elections in Kashmir has surprised many. Maroosha Muzaffar