India on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan’s ongoing elections in occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) as a “cosmetic electoral exercise” aimed at legitimising its illegal occupation of the region and concealing what it described as decades of human rights violations and systemic oppression.Reacting to the first phase of the “so-called” legislative assembly election, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas under Pakistan’s “illegal” control, are an integral and inalienable part of India.“We have seen reports regarding the so-called legislative assembly elections being conducted in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. India’s position on this matter is consistent, clear and well known. The entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas currently under Pakistan’s illegal and forcible occupation, are integral and inalienable parts of India,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during the weekly media briefing.Describing the electoral process as lacking credibility, Jaiswal said, “The current cosmetic electoral exercise is nothing but an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its grave human rights violations in the region.”He said the unrest witnessed in PoJK reflected deep public discontent with Islamabad’s policies rather than any democratic process.“As we have stated recently, the ongoing mass protests in PoJK are the direct consequence of Islamabad’s decades-long systemic economic exploitation, denial of fundamental rights and administrative oppression,” he added.MEA’s remarks came a day after the first phase of elections in PoJK was marred by violence, allegations of large-scale rigging and clashes between rival political groups. A Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) worker was killed in Kotli, while a ballot box was reportedly looted and later set on fire in Bhimber during polling.According to preliminary results announced on Tuesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won nine of the 13 seats that went to polls in the first phase, while its coalition partner, PPP, secured the remaining four seats.PPP, however, alleged widespread manipulation in at least seven constituencies, claiming several of its winning seats had been “gifted” to the PML-N, and demanded that the Election Commission withhold the final results pending an inquiry into the allegations.The elections to the 45 directly elected seats of the 53-member so-called PoJK Legislative Assembly are being held in three phases from July 27 to August 10. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has boycotted the polls.The electoral exercise is taking place against the backdrop of months of political unrest and anti-government protests led by Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which has accused Islamabad of economic exploitation, political repression and the use of excessive force against protesters.Earlier this month, India had linked the protests in PoJK to what it called Pakistan’s “systemic exploitation and administrative oppression” of the region, maintaining that the unrest reflected growing resentment among the local population against Islamabad’s rule.