Sir,

What option India has (?) is the question you have raised and also answered in your own way through analogies of a Buddhist monk and Vladimir Putin who completely destroyed Chechenya, a prosperous town of one lakh population, to fight Islamic terrorism (Abracadabra in SOM dated Feb.17).

India being a democratic country can neither do what the Buddhist monk nor  Vladimir did. Suicide terrorism is almost impossible to stop unless there is a fundamental change in societal behaviour. It doesn’t mean nothing can be done about it. Many European countries, including those who sheltered Islamic dissenters suffered. France, which gave shelter to Ayatollah Khomeini,  is a case in point.

The growing alienation of Kashmiri youth is the core issue. There is no economic development in Kashmir. It lives on Central Government grants.One solution would be to allow real estate and agricultural land to be purchased by non-Kashmiris so that entrepreneurial activity picks up. This necessitates abolition of Article 370 which I think is the long-term solution. All political parties must arrive at a consensus on this issue.

It would be disastrous to enter into war against Pakistan on the pretext that JeM and LeT-based in Pakistan are promoting terrorism. The single reason for  Pulwama tragedy is the  serious security lapses as stated by the Governor of J&K. Let us not extrapolate and hypothesize on it.

– Prof. B. Shivaraj, Mysuru, 17.2.2019

Note: According to a Defence Expert on TV, the solution for J&K problem is in the removal of Article 35-A and scrapping of Article 370 from our Constitution.—Ed

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