Srinagar, India  - Elections to vote in a new legislative assembly began Monday in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir under tight security in view of a boycott call by separatist political parties and threats by militants.

Thousands of Indian Army troops and police provided security for voters in the 10 constituencies where the first of the seven-phase staggered elections are being held.

People were turning out in the early morning to cast their votes in small numbers, braving chilly weather in the Himalayan region, IANS news agency reported.

Election officials were quoted as saying that they expected the turnout to increase later in the day.

Earlier this year, rioting and protests triggered by a temple land dispute escalated into pro-independence agitation in the Kashmir valley led by the separatist Hurriyat Conference.

More than 40 people, most of them Muslims, died during the agitation. Many of them were killed in police firing.

The protests have been described as the most serious since a violent secessionist militant movement peaked in the late 1980s.

Separatist leaders, several of whom have been detained in the run-up to the elections, have called for a boycott, hoping a poor voter turnout will support their claim that the people are opposed to what they term India's governance by force in the valley.

More than 50,000 people - militants, security forces personnel, politicians, government officials and civilians - have died in militancy-related incidents in the Kashmir region over the past two decades.

The staggered elections were called by India's Election Commission to allow the government to provide maximum security cover to voters and contestants given a past history of violent attacks by militants

The seven-phase elections are scheduled to end on December 24.

Besides the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley, the state comprises the Ladakh region, which has a large Buddhist population, and the lower reaches of Jammu which is largely populated by Hindus.

State elections were last held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002 when an alliance of the Indian National Congress Party and the regional People's Democratic Party came to power.

The Congress Party chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned after the violent protests earlier this year and the state is now under federal rule.

The disputed Kashmir region is at the heart of a long conflict between India and Pakistan, including two wars over the region since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in
1947. Both countries administer parts of Kashmir.

An estimated 500,000 Indian troops are stationed in the valley, guarding the border with Pakistan and fighting militants.

On the eve of elections, international human rights watchdog Amnesty International appealed to India's security forces "to act with restraint and avoid excessive use of force, in the wake of recent volatility in the state."

Amnesty also said in past elections in the state, violence and attacks, allegedly by armed groups who issued calls to boycott elections, had left scores of people dead.

"Violence or the threat of violence must not be used to intimidate or coerce voters, election workers or candidates," it said. (dpa)