Held Kashmir former DGP rules out complete army withdrawal
NEW DELHI (SANA): Former Director General of Jammu and Kashmir police, Gopal Sharma has negated the possibility of withdrawal of army from the state.
“I think army’s complete withdrawal from Jammu and Kashmir is just not possible and great caution should be taken while thinking about the same,” said Sharma while speaking in a panel discussion organized by the Institute of Peace and Conflict studies (IPCS), a leading think-tank in security issues in South Asia, at New Delhi the other day.
The event aimed to address the findings of a report of a workshop on the escalation of religious and ethnic radicalization in the regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The workshop took place in December 2009 in Jammu with the joint collaboration of IPCS and University of Jammu.
The report prepared by the IPCS, based on the deliberations of the workshop would subsequently be submitted to the central and state governments as recommendations.
Asserting that the land laws limit economic development in conflict hit Jammu and Kashmir because no major company is going to invest until they can own land, Sharma further stressed that the issue of the Amarnath Shrine Land controversy was a great downturn.
“Everything that you say about Jammu and Kashmir – the opposite can also be true. It is very important to derive truth from facts otherwise all your inferences shall be half-truths. In the unique narrative of this state, the first casualty is the truth”, said Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Kapil Kak while speaking at the occasion.
Vice chancellor of Islamic University, Kashmir, Prof Siddiq Wahid said people of J&K are perhaps the most politically educated people in the country. “Therefore, it is important to put a political solution on the table and they shall recognize it.”
