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A majority of Indians believe that Pakistan hasn’t learnt any lessons from its military defeat of 1971, when India's victory in the Indo-Pak war had paved the way for the formation of Bangladesh from a territory that had hitherto been considered as East Pakistan.
The results of a nationwide poll by CVoter, conducted on the occasion of 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, show that over a third of Indians believe that Pakistan has become more dreadful and revengeful towards India since the defeat.
Here is what the survey has gauged about Indians' sentiments towards Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the changes of the last 50 years in the same context.
35 percent of those surveyed opine that Pakistan has become more vengeful and dangerous since its it lost its war with India in 1971, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.
While 15.4 percent of the voters said that Pakistan had learn just a few lessons, 27.7 percent said it had learnt nothing.
The survey results further revealed that a majority of Indians are of the view that India and Pakistan will continue to have strained relations in the future.
On the other hand, 22.6 percent of those who were interviewed during the survey expressed optimism about the international relations.
When asked if the Pakistan-China axis could prevent the rise of India as a world power, 38.6 percent respondents said that they will try but fail. While 20 percent of those surveyed believed they would partially succeed, 22.2 percent affirmed that it they would be successful.
19.2 percent Indians opined that internal divisions will be more harmful for India than the China-Pakistan axis.
When asked if the creation of Bangladesh has helped Indian in any significant way, 29.5 percent respondents said that the creation of the nation had helped a lot.
While 20.8 percent of the respondents said that it had helped a little, 23.7 percent said it had made no difference, and 26 percent said that it had actually harmed India.
39.3 percent of those surveyed believe that the Indian Army has not only maintained the finest standards exhibited in the historic 1971 war, but has further improved its professional qualities.
As many as 34.4 percent of the respondents opined that the armed forces have completely maintained its standards.
Meanwhile, 18.7 percent of those who participated in the opinion poll felt that Indian armed forces were falling victim to politicisation.
Almost a third of the respondents – 31.1 percent – opined that India has never witnessed a military coup unlike neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh, thanks to the professional military leadership of the country.
Merely 18.2 percent respondents believed that the credit for the same lay with the political leadership.
35.5 percent of the respondents stated that all the three aforementioned factors are responsible for India not having such a coup.
A majority of Indians believe that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh and better prospects in India are major factors that have led to the dwindling in the population of Hindus in the 50-year-old country.
Further, 24.2 percent of those surveyed cited the better prospects offered by India as the reason for the migration.
34.5 percent of the respondents said that the all the aforementioned factors have led to the decline of the Hindu population in Bangladesh.
Additionally, a large number of Indians indicated that people from West Bengal will never migrate to Bangladesh, despite the latter country having a higher per capita as compared to India, and better Human Development Indicators.
While as many as 37.5 percent of the respondents said that they don't think that residents of West Bengal will migrate to Bangladesh for jobs, 8.5 percent said that they can envisage such a future.
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