As far as Indian elections go, the Pakistani media concentrated last week on the Niaz Naik affair and its implications on the Indian vote and, not surprisingly, on the polls in Kashmir.

It was Naik's remark to journalists in Karachi that set the media abuzz. He reportedly said that had Kargil not happened, the issue of Kashmir would have been solved, and that if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had been in the know about what was happening in Kargil, the war would not have happened.

There were rebuttals by unnamed Army sources, Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz and finally Naik himself, but newspapers were quick to see the episode as a conspiracy by the Pakistani Government to garner support for the BJP Government. An Urdu daily described Naik as a ``naika (courtesan)'' playing to the gallery for the BJP.

The elections in Kashmir were the second issue to occupy the media. While writing a column in the daily Dawn, political commentator M.H. Askari said the latest manifestation of NewDelhi's ``exercise in futility'' was an attempt to hold polls in the ``occupied'' Kashmir constituencies. ``In several places, the boycott of the polls called by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference was total and the turnout was the lowest in the history of the Indian elections. Even with the security forces forcing people to go to the polling stations, the authorities failed to achieve their purpose,'' Askari wrote.

According to The News, the Congress's decision to nominate Dr Karan Singh against Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow wouldn't ruffle the BJP. Professor Khalid Mehmud, in his article in the paper, further added that Karan Singh's recommendation of autonomy for Kashmir had made him a non-starter in Lucknow as the BJP could brand him ``an anti-national''.

The official news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), said the electoral process in India was at its ``most crucial stage'' after the conclusion of the second round of polling. Both the Congress and BJP had failed to make anysubstantial gains, it noted and added that the remaining phases were important not just for them but for the smaller parties as well as the latter would play an important role.

Kamal Siddiqui