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SRINAGAR: “In Jammu and Kashmir, every opportunity is a threat, and every threat an opportunity, consequently our strengths are also our weaknesses,” according to Lt-Gen P R Shankar (retd).

Initiating a discussion on ‘J&K: Combating Terrorism, the way forward’ at the ORF-Chennai Chapter, Gen Shankar, who is now associated with the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Madras, said: “It is important when looking at combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, not simply to look for one solution, but to discuss a broad range of options.”

The challenges of this region were many. Gen Shankar enumerated the “fractured politics” as among the main causes of discord. In the present context, “tensions between the main political parties in the State, namely, the ruling BJP at the Centre, the Congress, the PDP, and the National Conference, are jostling for power”, and this has contributed to the State’s problems.

There is a widening gulf between opinions at the Centre and the State. The threats to security due to the link between separatists and adversarial Pakistan continue, he said. In addition to these challenges, Gen Shankar regretted that “industry is completely dead in J&K. Hence, there are no jobs and no income for the youth, whose situation is hopeless. The freebies and social subsidies have further led to lack of incentive to earn”.

“An entire generation of Kashmiris have only lived under the gun, seeing military operations at their doorstep and this has led to a deep sense of alienation,” observed Gen Shankar. He further pointed out that the “old leadership is being replaced by hard liners.” There was also a worrying new trend in J&K which was the targeting of security forces, Gen. Shankar said.

Looking at the future of J&K, it is important to understand the strategic motivations of Pakistan and China, said Gen Shankar. For Pakistan, he believed that “Kashmir is unfinished agenda from the Partition, and its army is fully in control of its nuclear assets.” However, economically, Pakistan is bankrupt with the government debt-to-GDP ratio put at a staggering 86 percent. The nation is highly dependent on China and Saudi Arabia for funding.

China, on its part, is very focused on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as a part of the larger BRI. The CPEC is crucial for China to meet its economic and energy goals. Additionally, Gen Shankar believed that it is in China’s interest to keep India tied down in the Himalayas, as this would free up the strategic space in the Indian Ocean Region. In this regard, for India, Chabahar is a crucial challenger to the CPEC, he said.

Afghanistan is also a key part of the J&K puzzle. The security implications of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan are huge for India. Pakistan is looking to be a key player in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the US forces will lead to a surplus of Taliban fighters who could potentially shift their attention to Kashmir, said the Lt. Gen. Shankar. From a strategic standpoint, it was important to keep the India-Iran-Afghanistan partnership engaged, which should be driven by Chabahar port, oil diplomacy and congruence of interests in Afghanistan.

The way forward should be assessed against a background of changing realities in the international system marked by the “US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a bankrupt Pakistan seeking strategic space in Afghanistan, a cooling Chinese economy and an emerging India albeit amidst an upcoming hyped up general elections,” Gen Shankar explained. The solutions to J&K should be in consonance with the emerging environment, he further added.

It is important to have national resolve and deep-rooted commitment beyond the election rhetoric at the centre,” Gen Shankar said. At the State level, the focus had to be the people, with an emphasis towards de-alienation and integration. This should be done through reviving local industry, tourism and modernising education. Youth clubs, sports leagues and adventure activities could also be encouraged. “Sufism, which was once the hallmark of Kashmiri culture, now entirely dead in the valley, must be revived to counter radicalism,” he added.

In conclusion, Gen Shankar said: “We need to take a step back, stabilise the situation, think coolly, take informed decisions and act deliberately for a long-lasting resolution of the problem. The approach to J&K must be balanced and not uni-dimensional. In all cases, the military solution is the last option. We must find a political solution.”

This report was prepared by Dr Vinitha Revi, Research Associate, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai

Srinagar, Mar 14: In a major embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janta Party, the party workers who attended the BJP rally in Srinagar here Thursday were seen hiding their faces from the media and others present on the occasion.
While the party leadership held its first major event in the summer capital ahead of the Parliament elections, the leaders present at the venue had to seemingly face embarrassment.
The party leaders who had held the rally to show public support couldn’t convince the audience to show their faces even to the media.
Sources said the BJP leaders from Kashmir had told their masters that they had been “working hard” in the valley to gain public support that they would show mega presence at the rally held outside the office of the Peoples Democratic Party here. But barring a few dozen people present, there was no major turnout of the people.
Sources to the shock of BJP leaders in Kashmir the workers were not willing to show even their faces. Despite request of some BJP leaders the workers were seen hiding their faces as media persons tried to shoot them in the camera.
“What can be the benefit of such supporters who are unwilling to show their faces… Such face hiding doesn’t take place during rallies by others rallies including Congress in Kashmir,” said a politician on the condition of anonymity.
It is pertinent to mention that BJP took lead with first rally in the heart of city.
Less than a week after general elections were announced, state Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has sent a list of prospective candidates from Kashmir for party high command’s approval.
Sources said three names will be picked by the party high command for the three seats.
In the last Assembly elections, BJP’s vote share was more than any other party in the state-the party’s 23% was higher than PDP’s 22.7%, NC’s 20.8% and Congress’ 18%.
Despite repeated attempts the BJP leadership couldn’t be contacted for comments.

Awantipora, March 15: Civilian namely Manzoor Ahmad lone son of Ghulam Mohammad Lone resident of Dogripora village of Awantipora shot at in Gulzar Pora village of the area.

Reports reaching KNO that he was abducted by some gunmen from his residence and later shot at in Gulzar pora area of the Awantipora area at around 9:30 pm.

Local sources told KNO that he was politically active with National conference.

An official while confirming the incident said that dead body has been recovered and further investigation is going on.(KNO)

Japan has unveiled Mobile Mosque to help Muslims pray during Olympics 2020. Japanese engineers have given Muslims a relief so that they can pray freely.

Japan is hosting Olympics 2020 which is due in the summer, a Tokyo sports company has created this beautiful praying truck which is something much needed for Muslims especially during the Olympics games in 2020.

This is being made by Yasu Project, the CEO of Yasuharu Inoue says that there are very few numbers of mosques in Japan for Muslim to pray, as the industry sees a lot of Muslims visiting Japan to watch the games, so they had to come up with something to make them feel ease to pray while visiting Japan.

The truck was unveiled in front of Toyota Stadium, a J-League soccer venue in Toyota City yesterday, which showcased it’s interior and exterior as well as showing Muslim men praying inside this Mobile Mosque.

The mobile mosque also has the facility to make wudhu as the engineers have placed the taps and washing tub inside the truck, so a person should not wander in the search of making wudhu. Which is one of the reasons this is a complete design for Muslims

A number of 100,000 to 300,000 Muslims live in Japan. And this will help the residents and tourists to not to miss their prayer while having fun. This is something Japan has looked after that they found out that Muslims value their Religion and Culture a lot so they came up with an idea of Mobile Mosque which all of us are loving.

Japan has been humble towards its Muslim tourists and residents that they introduced such a valuable thing for them. And Muslims will never forget their generosity for life.

Bandipora, March 14: One person was killed after a gas cylinder exploded at a house in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on late Thursday.

Reports reaching GNS said that a gas cylinder blast rocked the house of Abdul Salam Najar son of Fata Najar resident of Chana Mohalla Inderkote Sumbal in Bandipora district late this evening.

Reports said in the incident an 80- year old man who was identified as Ghulam Ahmad Najar son of Ghulam Mohammad Najar died while the kitchen where gas cylinder blast took place was completely damaged.

A senior police official also confirmed the incident and said soon after information was received a team of fire tenders, police reached the spot and put the fire under control. (GNS)

Srinagar, March 14 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Thursday issued fresh summons to Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to appear for questioning at the probe agency headquarters in connection with a financing case, officials said.

According to the notice, the Mirwaiz has been asked to appear at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi on March 18, the agency officials said.

The NIA had on February 26 carried out searches at premises of separatist leaders, including the Mirwaiz, in connection with the case related to alleged militancy funding in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NIA team, accompanied by police and CRPF personnel, searched residences of some of the separatist leaders, including the Mirwaiz, Naseem Geelani and Ashraf Sehrai, the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

The houses of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Zaffar Bhat and Masarat Alam were also raided.

The NIA had questioned two maternal uncles of the Mirwaiz Maulvi Manzoor and Maulvi Shafat — and his close aides last year. Both Manzoor and Shafat are retired senior government officers.

He had been asked to appear before the NIA on March 11 but the Mirwaiz had expressed his inability to join the investigation in Delhi fearing for his security in view of “conditions of hostility”.

“Under the prevailing conditions of hostility wherein there is a threat to the personal safety of my client, it becomes unwise for my client to travel to Delhi,” counsel for the Mirwaiz, Aijaz Ahmad Dhar, had said in a letter to the NIA.

If the NIA wants to question the Mirwaiz, it can do so in Srinagar and he is willing to cooperate as “he has nothing to hide”, the letter had said.

The lawyer had said his client was not acquainted with the subject matter of the FIR referred to in the NIA’s notice and added that the notice to the separatist leader appears to have been issued on the basis of “fallacious assumptions and misinformation solely aimed at maligning the Mirwaiz”.

On his client’s stand on the Kashmir issue, the lawyer said it has always been clear.

“He has always stated that the Kashmir issue is a political and human issue which needs political resolution either through implementation of UN resolutions or through dialogue amongst the three stakeholders — India, Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the counsel of the Mirwaiz said.(Agencies)

New Delhi, March 14: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India cannot have a dialogue with Pakistan unless the latter take action against terror groups on its soil. Speaking at a conference in Delhi on Wednesday the union minister hit out at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and said, “Some people say Imran Khan is a statesman, if he is so generous then he should hand over JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) chief Masood Azhar to India. Let’s see how generous he is.”

“If Imran Khan (Pakistan prime minister) is so generous and a statesman, he should give us Masood Azhar,” she said.

Talking on ‘India’s World: Modi Government’s Foreign Policy’, she stated that Pakistan needs to control the ISI and its army who are bent on destroying the bilateral relations time and again.

On the possibility of a dialogue with Pakistan, Sushma Swaraj said that India cannot do so unless the neighbouring country acted against terror outfits on its soil, asserting that “talks and terror cannot go together”.

“We do not want talk on terror, we want action on it. Terror and talks cannot go together,” she said.

The external affairs minister said that India can have a good relationship with Pakistan, provided the neighbouring country “takes action against terror groups on its soil”.

On her invitation to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, she said India avenged the humiliation meted out to it 50 years ago by becoming the ‘guest of honour’ at the OIC meet this year.

“In 1969, India was humiliated when it was not allowed to participate in the meeting even after reaching the venue after Pakistan protested against India’s then foreign minister’s participation. But now, 50 years later, it was India that was the honoured guest, while Pakistan’s seat was empty,” she said.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had expressed reservations about the invitation to Swaraj for the OIC meeting and later decided to boycott the meeting of the 57-member Muslim grouping held earlier this month.

Talking about the foreign policy of the current government, Swaraj said it was based upon the two principles of “national interest supreme” and “world is our family”.

“People often ask us what we get by our frequent travel to countries. I want to tell them we do not travel to have fun, we travel to build our relationship with other countries and it is because of our ties with these countries that we were able to rescue 7,000 people from Yemen. The strength of our bilateral ties was also reflected in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) elections,” she said.

“I have seen the strength of this relationship time and again,” the senior BJP leader said, adding that at the ministerial level, Indian leaders have visited 189 out of 193 countries. (Agencies)

Srinagar, March 14: The weatherman on Thursday forecast fresh spell of rains from March 19 even as the traffic authorities said that the decision regarding movement of vehicles on Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only surface link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the world, would be taken tomorrow.

“There would be generally cloudy sky with occasional light rain till 15th March morning. Thereafter mainly dry weather upto March 19 when there would be one more rainy spell,” a meteorological department official said here.

He said that Srinagar—the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir – recorded a minimum temperature of 3.2 Degrees Celsius last night against 3.7 degrees Celsius normal for this time of the season.

The official said that Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir recorded a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius while the mercury in Kokernag town in south Kashmir settled at a low of 2.5 degrees Celsius while Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a minimum of 1.0 5 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, witnessed a low of minus 4.8 degrees Celsius while the famous health resort of Pahalgam also recorded a minimum of minus 0.2 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the traffic department said that the decision regarding movement of vehicles would be taken on Friday.

“The decision on movement o traffic on the highway shall be taken tomorrow after accessing the weather and road condition,” said a traffic department official. (GNS)