Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri made the comments during the weekly briefing here. Envoys from several countries, including member states of the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) visited Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and Thursday to assess the ground situation in view of the efforts made to restore normalcy by strengthening democratically-elected local bodies. India has told Pakistan that it has no locus standi to comment on internal affairs of India, asserting that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been and will remain an integral part of the country. Chaudhri said that India should allow UN observers, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, and the international media to visit Kashmir and assess the situation on ground by free interaction with the Kashmiri people.
In the first-ever District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir, 38 persons from the Gujjar community have been elected, said a survey by Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, a community-supported organization of Gujjar community. The survey said that of the 38 members of the community elected in polls held for 280 DDC seats, Jammu province has the biggest chunk of 26 members from Gujjar-Bakerwal community. It said 15 tribal women from both the regions have also been elected. The survey said several independent candidates from Gujjar community won the election. Highest number of educated tribal youth of Gujjar community have been elected in eight phased polls, the results of which were announced yesterday and we compliment all of them said Javaid Rahi, a researcher, who released the survey.