STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: International Institute Of Jammu And Kashmir Studies And Analysis (IIJSA) conducted a webinar on ‘One Year After De-operationalising Art 370 & 35A’.
It was attended by a galaxy of experts from India and abroad.
Prominent guests were Amb G Parthasarthy, Amb Rudi Warjiri, Maj Gen B K Sharma, Director USI of India, Narinder Shishodia, former DG IDSA, Ashok Bhan, K B Jandial, Lt Gen P S Mehta and others.
Special guests from abroad were Ahmad Ayub Mirza , UNHCR speaker from GB (now in exile in London), Varinder Sharma, MP from UK, Lakshmi Kaul, Advisor to Bob Blackman, MP from UK, and hosts of other dignitaries from USA and Canada.
Besides, the event was watched by over 5000 people on facebook live.
The speakers were the galaxy of intellectuals from Jammu i.e Vijay Bakaya, former CS J&K, Kuldeep Khoda, former DGP J&K, Maj Gen B K Sharma, Director USI of India and Harbans Singh Sambyal noted historian of J&K History. The discussion was chaired by Amb G Parthasarthy and moderated by Brigadier Dr Vijay Sagar Dheman, PhD.
“Today, Jammu and Kashmir state along with POJK, POL and COL is plagued with many such maladies afflicted by world powers that be. Many a neighbour is trying to draw mileage from their misplaced sense of nationalism, religious leanings by commercial exploitation of individual leaders that be, albeit at the cost of the lives of the locals,” speakers said.
“The interests of the locals are being sacrificed for economic, security or imperialist gains by way of issues like territorial claims, religious radicalization and alienation and spread of terrorism,” they said adding that the local voices against the nefarious designs by outsiders supported by handful insiders are being heard in many areas in Jammu, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and fringe areas across Shamshabadi range outside Kashmir Valley as well.
The webinar had an in depth debate to understand the reality of the ground situation after De-operationalising of Art 370 & 35A and resulted in an animated discussion which was appreciated by one and all.
IIJSA has been brain child of Brigadier Dr Vijay Sagar Dheman, a leading Defence and Strategic Affairs expert who is a routine TV prime time commentator on national news channels. The aim is to give vent to the genuine aspirations of the natives of J&K.