Kashmiriyat

Kashmiriyat (Kashmiri: कश्मीरीयत, کشمیریّت; translation: Kashmiri-ness) is the ethno-national and social consciousness and cultural values of the Kashmiri people. Emerging approximately around the 16th century, it is characterised by religious and cultural harmony, patriotism and pride for their mountainous homeland of Kashmir. The tradition of Kashmiriyat has been deeply affected by the ongoing Kashmir conflict and by communal violence between Muslims and Hindus. However in recent 2007 poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, 84 percent of people in Srinagar want to see the return of Kashmiri Pandits. A MORI survey found that within the Kashmir Valley, 92% respondents opposed the state of Kashmir being divided on the basis of religion or ethnicity.