BARAMULLA   -   Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) voted Tuesday in the third and final round of polls to elect its first government since the territory was brought under New Delhi’s direct control. Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government cancelled IIOJK’s partial autonomy in 2019, a sudden decision accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long communication blackout. Since then the territory — which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in full — has not had an elected government, and has been ruled instead by a federally appointed governor. More than half a million Indian troops are stationed around IIOJK and Tuesday’s vote saw a heavy security presence, with rifle-toting soldiers seen guarding polling stations in Baramulla district. A high unemployment rate and anger at the 2019 changes have animated campaigning, and local parties have promised to fight for the restoration of IIOJK’s autonomy. “I voted so that there is some relief for us. Modi doesn’t agree with the views of Kashmiri people,” Baramulla local Abdul Rahim Rah told a wire service outside a polling station.