Srinagar: A Pakistan-based militant alliance fighting Indian rule in Kashmir has rejected the use of violence to force a boycott of forthcoming state elections in the troubled Himalayan region, a local news agency said on Tuesday.
The announcement by the United Jihad Council (UJC), which bands nearly a dozen militant groups, signals a change in strategy by rebels who have been waging an insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989.
"UJC will fully take part in the anti-election campaign across Jammu and Kashmir, but guns will not be used to force the people to boycott the polls," United Jihad Council chairman, Syed Salahuddin, told the Kashmir News Service.
"But if Indian security men use force to press people to vote, then guns will be used against security forces."
In the past separatist guerrillas have attacked candidates, polling stations, party workers and rallies during elections, killing scores of candidates and workers.
But violence has declined significantly since India and Pakistan, who claim the region in full but rule in parts, launched a peace process in 2004.
Polls for Kashmir's 87-member legislative assembly are due towards the end of the year.
A 19-year-old separatist revolt has killed tens of thousands of people in Kashmir, the cause of two of three wars between India and Pakistan.
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