Majority of Kashmiris want freedom: Indian ministry

India’s Home Ministry has acknowledged that a majority of Kashmiri people want freedom from the Indian occupation of their land.
A survey conducted in the Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) for the Home Ministry by the Institute for Research on India and International Studies (IRIIS) has found that 54 percent Kashmiri youth demanded freedom, although independent surveys say the percentage is much higher. The ministry is expected to release the findings in a few days after the survey studied the perception and psyche of the Kashmiri youth as well as the media impact’s at the height of the 2010 uprising, Indian media reported. While 54 percent identified azadi (the term used by the Kashmiris for liberation from India) as their preferred final status for Jammu and Kashmir, the study noted that the general political awareness of the Kashmiri youth was very high. It stated that they accessed multiple channels of communication to get news and if an important event or a crisis was unfolding, they tended to verify the news from various alternate sources. Analysts say it is mainly due to the lack of objectivity and growing bias in the Indian media. Nearly 60 percent of the Kashmiri youth read both local English and Urdu dailies, while only 17 percent read the Indian English dailies.
Internet is also gaining popularity, though largely in the urban areas where 31 percent access it — 77 percent of them on their mobile phones using GPRS or 3G services. The Web is used mainly to access local newspapers and Kashmir-specific websites, the survey report said.