Internet connectivity, which is now assumed to be a human right, was the prime problem in the valley, retired General of the Indian Army Lt Gen Syed Ata Hussain said on Saturday.
“With the help of mobile internet, information was mobilised against the state. This time, when there was a connectivity blackout, no such incident took place,” he added.
The ex-army man had commanded an Army Corps in Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian Academician Prof M D Nalapat, participating in the discussion on ‘Kashmir: A Peep into the Future’, organised as a part of the Mangaluru Lit Fest at the Dr T M A Pai International Convention Centre, said that it is profitable to be anti-Indian in Kashmir.
“The more trouble you make in Kashmir, the more you fight with the Indian state, you get richer rewards,” he stressed.
“Mahatma Gandhi did not endorse a two-state idea – he advocated that they are the same people, not someone from Mars. But, when it came to Kashmir, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten made an exception because it was a Muslim majority state. Treating people differently, just because they are Muslim, is the root cause of all problems that we see today,” he added.
‘Victims of separation’
Dr Waeil Ahmad, a journalist from Syria, declared that the people of Kashmir are victims of the separation.
“Every political party has said that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The present government, in its election manifesto, had spoken on abrogation of Article 370. Today, government has to gain the trust of the people,” he said and added, “Integration of the valley into the rest of India can be done by giving them an assurance about them being a part of our progressive democracy.”
Earlier, Anand Ranganathan initiated the discussion with the revocation of Articles 370 and 35 A.
He shed light on some of the migrants who were placed in Kashmir from other parts of the country.