Srinagar: A majority of the Indians believe that their government should use more military force in dealing with the law and order situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The latest survey by PEW Center says that a majority of Indians (55 percent) see the situation in Kashmir as a very big problem.
“Indians largely view Pakistan as a threat and believe the situation in Kashmir warrants more military force,” the survey points out. “The recent escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama attack has turned the long-running territorial dispute over Kashmir into a potent campaign issue for Modi.”
A majority of the respondents, 58 per cent, believes Delhi should use more military force than it uses currently in dealing with tensions in the area.
In the Centre’s spring survey last year, 76 per cent of Indians had said that Pakistan is a major threat to their country, including 63 per cent who said it is a very serious threat. “This view was shared by people in rural areas and urban centers, supporters of both the prime minister’s BJP and the Congress party, as well as Indians across age groups.”
Additionally, 65 per cent said terrorism is a very big problem in India.
“In the aftermath of the violence in Pulwama, Indian social media platforms saw such an uptick in fictitious or purposely misleading stories related to the attack that the head of Facebook India’s Integrity Initiatives tweeted that he had never seen anything like this before,” the Fact Tank said in its report.