Are Gupshup Indians and Pakistanis flexible? What is the best option
Indians, Pakistanis flexible on Kashmir - poll
By Krittivas Mukherjee
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - People in India and Pakistan show a readiness to let the disputed region of Kashmir decide its own fate, and many would tolerate independence if that ended the long-running Himalayan conflict, a rare poll on the crisis said.
A poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org asked Indian and Pakistanis to consider a range of possible outcomes for the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir and to say whether they found them desirable, acceptable, tolerable, or unacceptable.
A majority of those surveyed would find independence at least tolerable if Kashmiris wanted it.
“Given the deep roots of the conflict over Kashmir, it is surprising the conflict does not muster clearly polarised majorities in Pakistan and India, falling in line behind their governments’ positions,” said Clay Ramsay, research director of WorldPublicOpinion.org.
“Instead, many show openness to considering different possibilities for resolving the conflict.”
Three-quarters of Pakistanis called independence for the Muslim-majority region desirable or acceptable. While 50 percent of Indians said the idea was unacceptable, 29 percent said it was at least tolerable and the rest did not provide an answer.
The problem, analysts say, is that those who oppose making concessions over Kashmir in both countries tend to be very vocal and have often driven policy-making. That has made finding a solution to the crisis impossible until now.
Most Indians want Kashmir to remain under Indian control, either in its present status or with more autonomy. While Pakistan’s government has at times conceded that changing borders may not be an option, its people seem reluctant to accept this.
Around two-thirds of Pakistanis said simply giving Indian Kashmir more autonomy was unacceptable. Most would prefer it to join their country or become independent.
The idea of dividing the region between Pakistan and India gets little support on either side, but is also not opposed by a large majority, the pollsters said. Some 52 percent of Pakistanis and 42 percent of Indians found division unacceptable.
Similarly, around half of those surveyed on both sides said joint management by India and Pakistan was unacceptable.
GOVERNMENT POSITIONS
India has controlled nearly half of Kashmir since a war that followed independence from Britain in 1947, including the heavily populated and prized Kashmir Valley. Pakistan controls around a third and China the remainder.
Between 40,000 and 60,000 people are thought to have died in violence in the Himalayan region since an insurgency against Indian rule broke out in 1989.
The Indian government sees retaining control of its only Muslim-majority state as central to its identity as a secular nation and is extremely wary of making concessions over Kashmir that would encourage separatist tendencies elsewhere.
In Pakistan the Kashmir cause had been used by the army, whose generals have led Pakistan for more than half its life, to forge a sense of unity among a Muslim nation riven by ethnic, regional and political tensions, as well as sectarian violence.
The poll was taken among 907 Pakistanis spread over 19 cities with a sampling error of about +/-3.3 percentage points, while 1,258 Indians answered the survey in 10 cities. The sampling error for India was about +/-2.8 percentage points.
a la FATA?