By IOL
South Asia
correspondent
NEW DELHI
,
June 4 (IslamOnline) - Upset over the results of the recent
opinion-poll conducted by a British agency, which suggested that 61
per cent Kashmiris want to remain with
India
,
the Hurriyat Conference Monday, June 3, dared
New
Delhi
to conduct a plebiscite in
Jammu
and Kashmir
since the conditions were
“favorable” for it.
Both
India
and
Pakistan
are bound by the UN Security Council resolution of
April 21, 1948
to conduct a free plebiscite in Jammu & Kashmir to ascertain the
wishes of the people of the erstwhile princely state.
“The
opinion poll is favorable for the Indian government and it should not
shy away from holding the plebiscite,” the Hurriyat Conference, a
23-party separatist alliance, said Monday in its first reaction to the
opinion poll conducted by Mori International.
“The
poll is all the more favorable for Indians. Let them hold a plebiscite
and legitimize their control over
Kashmir
,”
Hurriyat chairman Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat said.
Challenging
the opinion poll, he said “800 people cannot decide the fate of 12
million people of the state.” On the remarks of Lord Avebury, chief
of London-based Kashmir Friends Society that his opinion about
Kashmir
has changed after the poll, Bhat said “a person who changes opinion
so quickly cannot be a friend of Kashmiris.”
“Who
is he? Our people have given supreme sacrifices for achieving the goal
of freedom. We do not need anybody’s certificate,” an angry Bhat
said.
Mori
International, an independent market research group in the
UK
,
had reported that that 61 percent Kashmiris, mostly Muslims, have a
strong liking for
India
and say that they are politically and economically better off as
Indian citizens.
The
report released in
London
on May 31 mentioned that the survey was conducted in three divisions
of
Jammu
,
Leh and
Kashmir
of the troubled Indian
state of
Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) between April 22-28.
The
BBC and other channels and media organizations highlighted the
findings of the survey creating a stir in the diplomatic and media
circles all over the world. The survey said that a majority of
Kashmiris in the Indian-administered
Kashmir
do not want to be Pakistani citizens.
According
to the survey, given a choice only six percent would opt
Pakistan
.
State residents have also come out strongly against the division of
J&K on religious and ethnic lines. “Over 92 percent are opposed
to the division of J&K on the basis of religion and ethnicity,”
the survey claimed.
The
survey also brought to the fore some startling revelations. People
have been shown to harbor extreme dislike for militancy and militants.
Of the 86 percent Kashmiris interviewed in the state summer capital
Srinagar, 78 percent Muslims wanted infiltration from across the
border to end and the militants to leave so that peace to return to
the poverty-stricken state.
In
an astonishing disclosure, 39 percent Kashmiri Muslims accused
Pakistan
of fanning militancy. People have also expressed their opinion on the
issue of autonomy being granted to the state.
Significantly,
there has been a split opinion in this regard. Almost 55
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| Soldiers
dragging body of a slain militant
Soldiers dragging body of a slain militant
|
percent
people support both
India
and
Pakistan
to grant as much autonomy as possible to both parts of
Kashmir
.
The majority of those interviewed in
Srinagar
and Leh supported the idea, while a great number of
Jammu
residents opposed it.
Strangely,
nearly half of the state's population is clearly in favor of the
formation of a new political party. The All Parties Hurriyat
Conference, a 23-party separatist conglomerate, does not hold much
importance for 78 percent Kashmiris. Similarly, the ruling National
Conference has been opposed by 81 percent people of the state.
At
a time when
India
and
Pakistan
are close to fighting a war, a huge majority of Kashmiris has come out
against the two countries going to war on the
Kashmir
issue. People believe that peace can ultimately be brought through
democratic elections, ending the mindless cycle of violence and
overall economic development.
According
to the survey, some two-thirds of the people in the state are of the
view that
Pakistan
's
involvement in the region during the last decade has not been good.
Only an insignificant 15 percent people support
Pakistan
for what they say it has been doing good for the region. However, 18
percent Kashmiris said that this has made no real difference.
Lord
Avebury, who has been actively involved in the J&K affairs in the
past and has shown considerable interest from time to time, was behind
the commissioning of this important survey. In a statement, Peter
Hutton, Mori International managing director, denied that the survey
has been drafted under Indian influence.
Meanwhile,
reports from Jammu and Kashmir suggest that the people there remain
largely unaffected by the war hype created on the Indo-Pak border.
Life for the people of the state is going on as usual like other parts
of India where no unusual signs are detected.
Kashmiris
simply refuse to buy the immediate and imminent war theory. “The man
on the street is relaxed. There are no overt fears. No panic buying.
The young Hurriyat Conference leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, is getting
married on June 9. There is no change in Minister of State for
External Affairs Omar Abdullah's plans to take over from his father
Farooq Abdullah the reins of the National Conference on June 12. War
or no war, life goes on here,” said reports is various Kashmiri
newspapers in Srinagar.
In
an another development, symptomatic of the Indian government’s
confused thinking on the Kashmir issue, internet services have now
been fully restored in the state. The Indian government’s move comes
close on the heels of the restoration of international and national
telephone dialing services which were abruptly suspended earlier this
year citing “security reasons.” However, it is only humorous that
the Indian government has restored these services while India and
Pakistan are on the verge of a war and Pakistan has indirectly
admitted of infiltration taking place from its side of the borders.
In
a related development the Border Security Force (BSF) Sunday shot dead
a top militant commander near Srinagar. Manzoor Ahmed Ganai, alias
Rafiq, was gunned down near Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Rafiq
was the deputy chief commander of pro-Pakistan Tehreek-ul-Mujahedin
militant group, and was carrying a reward of rupees 0.2 million on his
head, a spokesman for BSF said. Reportedly Rafiq was active in
militancy since 1994.
 |
| A
demonstration in Kashmir against custodial killings
|
Six
people were injured, one of them seriously, when police used force to
break up an anti-government demonstration in Kashmir Monday, June 3.
Several hundred people, including women and children, took to the
streets in Srinagar chanting slogans to protest the arrest of a youth
by security forces last week.
The
residents, who say the youth was innocent, marched some 100 meters
only when police barricaded them and charged them with bamboo
truncheons. Younger protesters retreated into narrow lanes and
stone-pelted the police who responded by firing tear-smoke canisters.
Six
people were taken to hospitals. Doctors said the condition of one of
the injured was serious as a tear-smoke shell had hit his head,
according to media reports.
