Any claim that all would be well in Kashmir but for Pakistan's cross-border terrorism
is simplistic and hides the internal trauma in the Valley. Kashmiris are alienated from both countries given brutal repression by India and
violence by pro-Pakistan militants; In a recent poll by Mori , only 9% and 13% of people of Kashmir Valley have preferred to join India and Pakistan respectively. Kashmiri activists resent the gradual erosion
of their autonomy promised under Article 370 and the fact that the promised
self-determination has been denied so far and hence insist on
being included in the talks without preconditions, which both India and Pakistan
resist; The stalemate continues.
The Hurriyat conference(APHC) is an umbrella organization of over 20 political, social and religious groups founded in 1993, which is the political face of the Kashmiri separatist movement with good support in the Valley, as attested by the compliance of the Valley in response to APHC's calls for strikes and protests; The Hurriyat is
committed to self-determination for Kashmiris and fighting Indian rule by peaceful means and has thus far refused to participate in Jammu & Kashmir's elections, although it is deeply divided in whether the ultimate objective is independence or accession to Pakistan.
Yasin Malik (Chairman of the J&K Liberation Front and a pro-independence Hurriyat leader) says in an interview in 2000 that India has offered talks with Kashmiris subject
to condition that Kashmir is a part of India, which he has refused. The hardliners
insist that talks with India must include Pakistan, an option India completely rejects. The Hurriyat claims to represent the whole State, however it has refused to indicate the future status of various regions and communities within the proposed state; The Hurriyat does not have good support outside the Kashmir Valley and parts of Azad Kashmir and hence needs to accomodate regional solutions.