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Gains in Kashmir not built upon: Army Chief
Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 11
Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh said today the cause for the recent flare up in the Kashmir Valley was as a result of the failure to build on the gains that had been made by the security forces in the troubled state.

Speaking to news channel, General Singh said, “The Kashmir situation has been tense for quite some time and the reasons are many. The basic reason being that we have not been able to build on the gains that have been made.”

In comments, which may not go down well with the political dispensation, he said the Army had brought the situation under control to a certain level from where other steps should have been taken to carry forward the process and bring peace to the Valley.

“So far as the Army is concerned, I think as security forces, a lot of work has been done. The situation has been brought to a particular level when other initiatives should have started to make way for betterment,” he said. He pointed out that efforts should have been made to identify the miscreants behind the violent protests as that would bring the volatile situation under control.

“There are people who are passing instructions on the phone. They have to be identified. There are people financing the protests. They must be identified,” he said. He was of the view that the local administration had failed to take steps to instil confidence among the people. He said it was for the local administration and the elected representatives to win the confidence of the common man and convince him to stay away from protests.