Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 13: Defence expert Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, who had also served as Corps Commander of Srinagar based 15 Corps has called for greater efforts towards providing more engagement between Civil Society, youth and business communities of Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir saying this could be the “workable precursor” before more intimate engagement between people of the region and rest of India.
Speaking at Round Table Meeting with the theme “The Kashmir Flash Point; How to Resolve the Crisis”, organized by Lehar, a Kashmir based NGO in conjunction with Bangalore based think tank Tawazun at The Habitat here, Lt Gen Hasnain said: “we need to engage with the people”.
Calling for greater efforts towards more engagement between people of the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir including Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, he said the people of Jammu probably understood the people of Kashmir far better and, therefore, needed to be brought into the ambit of extensive engagement activities.
Referring to ongoing unrest in the Kashmir valley, which has already crossed three months now and took heavy toll of civilians with nearly 90 deaths and thousands of others including half of them para-military and police personnel injured, Lt Gen Hasnain stated that dialogue with the people was the only way forward in resolving turbulence in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We should reduce negativity in the environment and go back to some of the positives of the past,” the former GOC of Srinagar based Chinar Corps said.
Lt Gen Hasnain pointedly countered the separatist narrative and mentioned that change of ownership of territory was no longer possible anywhere in the world, especially by violence and therefore whatever was discussed as way forward had to be with the assumption that it was for the purpose of mainstreaming those opposed to the idea of India.
He recalled that in 2011-12, the Army had managed to create a positive environment through its engagement and outreach to the people.
“There was a change of ethos which provided more dignity and self esteem to the people,” he asserted.
According to him, the term `’engagement with the people” had no limits and every means should be found to meet all strata of society.
A number of prominent experts on Jammu and Kashmir attended the Round Table Meeting at New Delhi and expressed their views.
They included Kuldip Nayyar, a veteran media personality and A S Dulat, former Chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
There has been no let up in the Kashmir unrest with regular protests at various places across the Valley though scale of the protests has now considerably come down. The unrest had started with the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander Burhan Wani at Kokernag on July 8.
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