9

This is a link to an Indian debate show, where they discuss a "shocking poll" that reveals "73% of people in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir want freedom from Pakistan".

Question: Is this true, and what is the general opinion of all Kashmiri people in regards to independence?

I have several reasons to distrust above claim. I mean, the entire presentation seems very suspect, sensationalized, and propagandaic. I have also not been able to find a trustworthy source. I did however find this source which claims that two-thirds of Kashmiri do want independence, but unfortunately this is for people in Indian Kashmir, that is, they want independence from India.

3
  • 2
    I'm afraid I'd prove impossible to run independant and honest polls either in POK or in IOK. Moreover, it is not clear to me if the "73 % of people in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir [who] want freedom from Pakistan" want to create an independant country, want to unite with India, or are the union of supporters of both options.
    – Evargalo
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 13:03
  • 6
    This question would be more appropriate for "Skeptics" on Stackexchange. Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 14:53
  • 2
    See this poll from 2010 with very different numbers: bbc.com/news/10161171
    – ubadub
    Commented Oct 24, 2018 at 5:13

1 Answer 1

4

Phrasing the question in terms of "freedom from Pakistan" is clearly biased towards India. Full independence (from both Pakistan and India) is the most popular option across Kashmir as a whole, but even that is not supported by a majority.

A deleted answer originally posted by user17569 cites the Chatham House survey published in 2010. This apparently remains the most systematic and independent attempt to measure public opinion on the issue within Kashmir. It looks in detail at different questions and compares the different provinces. Here is a summary of the key results:

The two questions envisaged under the UN resolutions of 1948/49, which proposed a plebiscite, were restricted to the choice of the whole of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir joining India or joining Pakistan. This poll shows that preference for those options is highly polarized. 21% of the population said they would vote for the whole of Kashmir to join India, and 15% said they would vote for it to join Pakistan. [...]

The option of independence has been widely promoted on both sides of the LoC over the last twenty years. However, although 43% of the total population said they would vote for independence, in only five out of eighteen districts was there a majority preference for the independence of the whole of Kashmir.

Note that in these results, those who support joining India (21%) and those who support independence (43%) total just under 2/3 of the population (64%). The 73% result is probably consistent with this, considering the loaded wording of the question in terms of "freedom from Pakistan", as only 15% said they want to join with Pakistan.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .