i mean, do i think that the militants represent the population?

do i think the jihadists have actual popular support?

not at all.

so, it's a false narrative all around.

what you have in kashmir - as you had in syria, and in iraq and almost everywhere else where there are these kinds of wars - is a group of well-funded violent extremists that are largely acting on behalf of foreign governments and care little for the people that live there, fighting against a state that is overreaching it's bounds. both sides claim to represent the average person, and both sides are completely wrong.

self-determination would necessitate free elections, which are impossible under the conditions that the militants would set up.