Kashmir's turbulent developments have devastated the common citizens of the Valley, said N.N. Vohra, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, at an event organised by the Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi on Monday.
The former bureaucrat sympathised with the plight of the Kashmiri masses who have suffered because of military actions, cross-border terrorism and prolonged spells of curfew, the latest of which began on August 5.
“I can say that the life of the ordinary Kashmiris in the Valley particularly, and more recently elsewhere in the State, have been shattered by successive developments over a period of time,” said Mr. Vohra, who served as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir between 2008 and 2018. Satya Pal Malik has replaced him.
His tenure witnessed developments like the Amarnath agitation of 2008 and the subsequent protest of 2010 and the Burhan Wani related protests of 2016.
Speaking at the launch of book The Story of Kashmir: Geopolitics, Politics, Society, Culture and Changing Aspirations by David Devadas, Mr. Vohra recollected the Pakistani subversive activities shifted to the Valley from Punjab during the 1980s.
Students' woes
The event witnessed a dramatic moment when a Kashmiri student, Syed Hammad Mehraj, highlighted the difficulties faced by students in Kashmir. He said they were unable to study at night as lights were switched off as a precautionary measure to avoid attracting the attention of military personnel. After this intervention, Mr. Vohra avoided answering a question on Article 370. He, however, referred to the difficult conditions faced by the young population.
“In the years past, a great deal of damage was done to the democratic order, economic system, social fabric and the future of our youth in the State, a great deal of whom were radicalised and alienated,” he said. He emphasised that the intervention from across the border in the form of cross-border terrorism was greatly responsible.
Striking a note of empathy, specially for the youth, he repeated that the youth and their parents were let down by the developments that hurt Kashmir's prospects. He also mentioned internal shortcomings of the Indian state in managing the ground situation but did not elaborate it, saying “that's another issue”.
“The youth of the Valley and their future careers have been very adversely affected beyond their control and beyond the control of their parents by factors that are totally beyond their control,” he noted.
Pointing to the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan that is replete with war talks, he urged for constructive work on the ground.
