SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid a trip to Jammu and Kashmir, for the first time since the autonomy of the disputed region was scrapped in August 2019.

In a gathering in a highly fortified sports stadium in the capital Srinagar, Modi blamed the “dynastic politicians,” who have ruled the region for most of its turbulent past, for “keeping people chained” to the abrogated special laws and credited his government for giving voting rights and job reservations to several communities.

His trip to Kashmir came ahead of general elections in India where Modi is looking to win a third term in office.

Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation of several development schemes worth more than $700 million in agriculture, tourism, and sports for the region, besides announcing government jobs for more than 1,000 people.

He said the arrival of a record 20 million tourists, including religious pilgrims, to the region is the marker of the changing situation.

A few schools along the route to the region’s airport were closed for two days given the security measures, which also saw the deployment of tens of hundreds of additional forces at strategic points in the capital besides the banning of the operation of privately owned drones or quadcopters and increased frisking of private vehicles.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against the Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

Thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989, according to several human rights organizations.