GPJ India

3 weeks ago | globalpressjournal.com | Angana Chakrabarti |GPJ India

CHAMARIA, INDIA — It was village council election season in India’s northeastern state of Assam, and nearly 60,000 people vied for over 21,000 seats. In a country where political ideology often hinges on religion, voters in at least one Anchalik Panchayat (block-level) race, in Kamrup District, showed that when they cast ballots, there’s a lot more at stake. Assam’s population is roughly 34% Muslim, though by some counts it’s as much as 40%, and growing fast.