Srishti Jaswal

srishti.jaswal@htlive.com

Chandigarh : If we claim that we can get the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) back, it is a false claim, said strategic affairs expert Maroof Raza during a session organised on the second day of the Military Literature Festival at Lake Club, Sector 1, Chandigarh, on Saturday.

Raza was discussing his and TV producer Iqbal Chand Malhotra’s book, ‘Kashmir’s Untold Story: Declassified’, with Major General Jagatbir Singh (retd), Hindustan Times executive editor Ramesh Vinayak and Brigadier Pradeep Sharma (retd) during the session.

The discussion was structured around the future of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir concerning external factors like Pakistan and China and internal factors like insurgency and unrest in Kashmir.

Listing public discontent, funding, weaponry and rough terrains as factors responsible for the insurgency in the Valley, Raza said, “Since 1990, there have been three instances where the military had control over the insurgency, however, bureaucrats had no plans, so precious time was lost. If the government solves the problem in Kashmir, there will be no problem of Kashmir.”

To this, Vinayak added that there is a need for opening up the political space in Kashmir to bring normalcy in the Valley.

While Maj Gen Singh also shared his insights overKashmir regarding its strategic location and its relationship with China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.