Panaji: The Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, on Friday said the “Kashmir issue” is not easy to resolve and advocated a “long-term policy” for it.
Mr. Parrikar was speaking at a State government-organised function on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s 126th birth anniversary on Friday.
‘Discussions are spoilers’
He also said discussions on sensitive issues should be minimal. “There are some things on which discussions should be minimal. These things need to be made to happen instead. Discussions can be spoilers. The media asked me about some issues today morning. I asked them: do you want this thing to happen, or do you want it to become news?”
Open discussions, according to Mr. Parrikar, bring multiple opinions to the fore and may become a hindrance in decision-making: “If you want something to happen, don’t discuss it too much in the news. When there is a discussion, one person says one thing, while someone else says something else.”
He also said he wasn’t accustomed to New Delhi and there was “a lot of pressure” on him there.
‘Shivaji is my guru’
Mr. Parrikar also said Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is his political guru. However, he said worshipping icons is not enough.
“I imbibe [Shivaji’s] qualities only as much as I can. I have to learn from his qualities. There is no point merely worshipping.”
He added, “It is important to imbibe at least some of [Dr. B.R.] Ambedkar’s qualities. We cannot imbibe everything. If you did, you would become Babasaheb [Ambedkar] yourself.”
