Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army General Ved Prakash Malik on Wednesday termed the closure of the Kashmir highway for the civilian movement as the dumb idea.
The retired general said that the banning of the highway isagainst the army’s core objective of “winning hearts and minds” of the localpopulace.
“Kashmir. Ban on move of civ vehs on NH twice a week is adumb idea 1. Goes against core object of winning hearts & minds. 2. CivilAdm must weigh pros & cons 3. Instead of strengthening local police &int, & improving move security, shows forces becoming over defensive(sic),” the former Indian COAS tweeted on the second day of the highwayclosure.
While the army stationed in the Valley has said they don’thave any information about the closure of the highway, the outgoing union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh has said that he would not revoke the order banning thecivilian movement.
According to the order issued last week, the highway fromBaramulla in north Kashmir to Udhampur in Jammu will remain closed everyWednesday and Sunday till May 31 to ensure movement of the forces’ personnelfor the election purpose.