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The Week/C-Voter poll conducted in 1996 revealed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were warming up to democracy. But the international media was sceptical about the authenticity of the poll carried out by an Indian agency. Now, the findings of an independent market research company, MORI International, indicates that the yearning for democracy has increased during the period: 86 per cent of the people MORI pollsters met in April felt that free and fair elections would help end terrorism.
The Jammu and Ladakh region now wears the same optimism, though in the 1996 poll the people there were wary of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference and considered it a 'militant group'. For the people in the valley, however, the Hurriyat were 'freedom activists' and 52 per cent from the region wanted the Hurriyat to contest the elections and become a part of the democratic process. Former Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah was rated as the most popular leader in the valley, edging out Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to second place.
According to the MORI poll, the people feel that holding free and fair elections in the state is impossible without controlling violence. What should encourage Indian policy planners is that almost two-thirds of the respondents feel that the involvement of Pakistan in the region has been detrimental to the state.
The government's image has got a boost: 61 per cent of the respondents felt that they would be better off as Indian citizens while only 6 per cent said they would rather be Pakistanis. The poll indicates that the people are disillusioned with militancy: 88 per cent felt that preventing infiltration along the LoC would bring peace to the valley and 65 per cent said that the presence of foreign militants was damaging the Kashmiri cause. More than 74 per cent yearned for peace and preservation of the cultural identity of the region. They saw economic development as the only way out and welcomed investment in the state.
With elections to Jammu and Kashmir
Assembly due later in the year, opportunity has come knocking for the Hurriyat
to recognise popular public sentiment. Hopefully, it will end the era of
violence in the state.
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