Separatist movements of Pakistan

rdf:langString Separatist movements of Pakistan

rdf:langString There are separatist movements in Pakistan which are based on ethnic and regional nationalism, including independence movements in Balawaristan, Sindh and Balochistan. The government of Pakistan has attempted to subdue these separatist movements. The separatist movement in Balochistan is engaged in a low-intensity insurgency against the Government of Pakistan. In 2009, the Pew Research Center conducted a Global Attitudes survey across Pakistan, in which it questioned respondents whether they viewed their primary identity as Pakistani or that of their ethnicity. The sample covered an area representing 90% of the adult population, and included all major ethnic groups. According to the findings, 96% of Punjabis identified themselves first as Pakistanis, as did 92% each of Pashtuns and Muhajirs; 55% of Sindhis chose a Pakistani identification, while 28% chose Sindhi and 16% selected "both equally"; whereas 58% of Baloch respondents chose Pakistani and 32% selected their ethnicity and 10% chose both equally. Collectively, 89% of the sample opted their primary identity as Pakistani. Similarly in 2010, Chatham House conducted an opinion poll in the Pakistani and Indian-administered regions of Kashmir asking respondents if they favoured independence or an accession to either countries; in Azad Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, 75% of respondents voted to join Pakistan, 24% voted for independence, and only 1% voted for accession to India, while in Jammu and Kashmir (state) administered by India 50% voted to join Pakistan. In the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan, longstanding local sentiments oppose any merger of the area with Kashmir, and instead demand a constitutional integration with Pakistan. The poll conducted among residents of Jammu and Kashmir administered by India and Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan also shows a polarization in opinion, 21% of the population said they would vote for the whole of Kashmir to join India while 45% said they would vote for it to join Pakistan.