It was to fill a vital gap in current public discourse on Kashmir--the absence of the Kashmiri's viewpoint--that Outlook commissioned MODE to conduct an opinion poll in the valley. Researchers from Delhi recruited local staff who worked at great risk to their lives. The poll was nearly called off after they were stalked by gunmen in Anantnag. But the motivation of being the first-ever organisation to hazard such an exercise carried the team through. Altogether 504 adults (337 men, 176 women) were interviewed in Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla, Bandipora, and Anantnag during the second half of September.