55% Indians see Kashmir situation as a big problem: PEW Research
Image used for Representational Purpose
New Delhi : In the run-up to the 2019 elections, according to a newly released sampling of public opinion in India by the US-based Pew Research Centre.
However, a majority of Indians express growing concern about terrorism and the threat posed by Pakistan.
The Pew survey which was conducted among 2521 respondents in India from May 23 to July 23, 2018, says most Indians think Pakistan is a threat to the country. “When asked how serious of a danger Pakistan poses for India, about three-quarters in India (76%) say Pakistan is a threat, including 63% who say it is a very serious threat.”
A majority of Indians (55%) see the situation in Kashmir as a very big problem. When asked how this issue has changed over the past five years, more than half (53%) say circumstances in Kashmir have gotten worse. Only 18% think things have gotten better, and just 6% believe conditions are the same.
When asked about the government’s strategy in dealing with the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, a majority believes the Indian government should use more military force than they are currently using. Equal, though small, shares think the military should use either less or about the same amount of force (both 7%).
But despite these worries, most Indian adults are satisfied with the direction of their country and the economic prospects of the next generation, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Similarly, a majority of Indians (55%) are happy with the way things are going in their nation today. But that is down 15 points from 70% in 2017 and marks a return to the level of public satisfaction in 2015, the first full year of Narendra Modi’s government. Still, Indians’ mood remains much higher than in the last two years of the previous government of Manmohan Singh.
Lack of employment opportunities is also seen by the public as India’s biggest challenge, with 76% of adults saying it is a very big problem – little changed over the past year. In 2018, despite an estimated 3.5% formal unemployment rate, 18.6 million Indians were jobless and another 393.7 million work in poor-quality jobs vulnerable to displacement, according to estimates by the International Labor Office .
