An opinion poll conducted by the Chatham House on the both sides of Line of Control (LoC), reveals that only 2 percent of people from Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) favour joining Pakistan.

The survey conducted in 2009 by the Britain based think-tank said that 44 percent of people in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) supported independence. But it was less in the Jammu and Kashmir, as only 43 percent people favoured independence.

At least 48 percent of those surveyed felt that talks had improved the chance of peace. 58 percent of people, however, said they were prepared to accept LoC as a permanent border. Also, most people in J&K rejected the idea of violence. Only 20 percent of people said violence would only help but it is higher in PoK where 40 percent of respondents said violence is the answer for a possible route to resolution.

There were also different perceptions over election on both sides. According to the report, “Just over half of the population in J&K thought the State Assembly elections (2008) and the Lok Sabha elections (2009) had improved the chances of peace (52% and 55% respectively). In PoK only 41 percent thought that the elections for the Pakistan National Assembly (2008) had improved the chances of peace, while even fewer (34 percent) thought the same about the Assembly elections in PoK (2006).

The responses were, however, offered much clearer insight to governance issues in the region. Some of the figures related to governance issues:

•    81 percent say unemployment is the most significant problem facing Kashmiris (66 percent in PoK, 87 percent in J&K).
•    Government corruption - (22 percent PoK and 68 percent J&K)
•    Poor economic development (42 percent PoK, 45 eprcent J&K)
•    Human rights abuses (19 percent PoK, 43 percent J&K)
•    80 percent of Kashmiris say that the dispute is very important to them personally.

The 37-pages report titled ‘Kashmir: Paths to Peace’ used Ipsos MORI administered poll in conjunction with FACTS Worldwide. The report is based on the fieldwork conducted in India and by Aftab Associates Pvt Ltd, which carried out the fieldwork in Pakistan.

The author of the report Robert W. Bradnock said that the main idea of conducting this survey is to ‘establish current attitudes in Kashmir on both sides of the LoC to alternative scenarios for the resolution of the conflict.’

Read the entire report