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The Myth of United India
By siliconindia
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Saturday, 01 October 2011, 03:34 IST |
81 Comments
May be India can win a war on Kashmir, but can never win the hearts of Kashmiris. The dissident character is here to stay because it's deeply into their blood. The tactics of different governments seemed to have failed there over the time as intrusion and violent protests are on the increase in the state. According to a recent poll conducted by think tank Chatham House, Nearly half of the people living in the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir want an an independent country for the disputed and divided state. Between 75 percent and 95 percent people from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley support freedom both from India and Pakistan. Twenty one percent of the population said they would vote for the whole of Kashmir to join India, and only 15 percent said they would vote for it to join Pakistan. The results visibly indicate a quest for freedom beyond the religious lines. Nonetheless, the violent form of agitation is giving sleepless nights to government as the issue has been progressively gaining a global attention.
The severity of protests and agitation seems much less in Northeast as compared to the Kashmir valley, but people are definitely is not happy with the Indian rule. Irom Sharmila Charu, the 'Iron Lady of Manipur' has been on an indefinite hunger strike since November 5, 2000 demanding the government to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Life has never been safe and peaceful in the northeastern states as human right violation is not a rare incidence there ever since the army took over the security control. The sense of belonging has been forcefully erased from the minds of the people from the seven states of northeast India over the years who are often viewed as different' by many.
