Author: Yashwant Deshmukh
Publication: The Week
Date: June 16, 2002
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.
