“Kashmiris have to produce a man of the ideological make-up of Martin Luther King, a man totally committed to the idea of non-violence, to the welfare of the people of the Jammu and Kashmir and willing to put his all at stake without an iota of self-interest, self-aggrandisement and self-glorification, then people of Kashmir would follow him,” said retired IAS officer Moosa Raza, former Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir, last week at the Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women in Chennai.
He was delivering the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture 2019 on the teachings of Martin Luther King and the issues and problems plaguing the critical State of Jammu and Kashmir.
He added that the leader should dream big. “He should proclaim his dreams from Budsha Chowk in Srinagar, from the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, from the Azad Maidan in Mumbai, from the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata and from the Island Ground in Chennai,” he said.
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Arguing that all talks of abolishing Article 370 and Article 35 A should be eschewed, he said, “Once the protection goes, there are hundreds of bald-headed vultures waiting outside with bags of Dollars, Dirhams and Rupees who will buy up entire Kashmir, build five-star hotels, 27-storey residences, bungalows, tourist resorts and what have you. Hopefully, in the interest of environment and ecology of Kashmir, Supreme Court will safeguard both Article 370 and Article 35 A.”
Robert G. Burgess, Consul General of the United States of America in South India, Shanaz Ahmed, principal of the college, and P. Murari, immediate past president, IAA, were present.