The elderly local is from the Poonch region and not a valley Kashmiri. Sawjian village is in Poonch.
People in this region. mostly sunni gujjars are pro-India and support the army. Infact, in the Poonch, rajouri region they don't even want the army to leave this area and have a good rapport with them.
The valley Kashmir is slightly different ofcourse. Although even there, the rural populace is more favourably disposed to India than the urban clusters.