Indian troops and civilian militia patrol Indian-administered Kashmir as the region gets ready to vote in local elections for the first time since its unique semi-autonomy was scrapped. Many in the Muslim-majority territory, claimed by both India and Pakistan, remain bitter at the 2019 order by the Hindu-nationalist government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose control from New Delhi. But some express hopes that the polls will bring a modicum of change. "Until statehood is restored we'll have to work within the system the government (in Delhi) has pushed us into," one voter tells AFP. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES