Prime Minister Narendra Modi told voters today, not to be intimidated against casting ballots in held Kashmir´s state elections after a string of attacks, as he hit the campaign trail in the Muslim-majority region.
Modi´s Hindu nationalist party is making an unprecedented bid for power in the troubled Himalayan region, where tensions are high following the killing of 11 soldiers and police in a series of assaults last Friday.
But speaking at an election rally in the south of the state, Modi said voters should not be scared off by the attacks which India blames on Pakistan-backed militant groups.
“Our soldiers have sacrificed their lives to safeguard democracy,” he said at an election rally in the southern Jammu area of the state.
“You must ensure that their sacrifices are safeguarded. The power of your finger is greater than the power of an AK 47.”
Modi was later due to travel north to the main city of Srinagar which was under virtual lockdown, with thousands of extra troops deployed.
The BJP has traditionally had no base in the Kashmir Valley, where local resentment against Indian rule runs high.
He will first visit the army´s headquarters in Srinagar and then address supporters from his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who are confident of making an unlikely breakthrough in the state.
