Frontier India Current Affairs

Written on July 17, 2008 – 7:09 am | by FICA |

A World Public Opinion poll of the Indian and Pakistani publics reveals that half or more are open to a range of possible outcomes for Kashmir other than it being part of their respective countries. On neither side is there strong majority opposition to Kashmir becoming an independent country or dividing Kashmir between Pakistan and India.

More significant, Indians and Pakistanis show a readiness to have the Kashmiri people decide their fate. If a majority of all Kashmiris were to choose independence, a majority of Indians and Pakistanis would find such independence at least tolerable.

“Given the deep roots of the conflict over Kashmir, it is surprising that the conflict does not muster clearly polarized majorities in Pakistan and India, falling in line behind their governments’ positions,” comments Clay Ramsay, research director of WorldPublicOpinion.org. “Instead, many show openness to considering different possibilities for resolving the conflict.”

Indians and Pakistanis were asked to consider a range of possible outcomes for Indian-controlled (Jammu and) Kashmir and to say whether they found them desirable, acceptable, tolerable, or unacceptable.

The idea that received the lowest level of opposition is for Kashmir to become independent. Three quarters of Pakistanis called this outcome desirable or acceptable. While 50 percent of Indians said this idea is unacceptable, the other half said it was at least tolerable or did not provide an answer.

The idea of dividing Kashmir between Pakistan and India gets little support on either side, but is also not opposed by a large majority. Pakistanis were roughly divided between 52 percent who found the idea unacceptable and 48 percent who said it was at least tolerable or did not answer. Among Indians, while 42 percent found division unacceptable, 58 percent said it was at least tolerable or did not answer.

However the greatest indicator of flexibility is that Indians as well as Pakistanis express a readiness to have the Kashmiri people decide their fate. Respondents were asked to “suppose the majority of all Kashmiris, including those on both sides of the Line of Control and refugees, want Kashmir to be an independent state.” In that case only 35 percent of Indians would find independence unacceptable. Among Pakistanis, only 11 percent found this outcome unacceptable.