Our approach to J&K can be more purposeful and helpful to the gentle - though misguided - people of the beautiful valley. The alternative is too horrific to even consider

 Yesterday, we looked at how the security of well over a billion Indians cannot be jeopardised by the short-sighted suicidal attitude of a misguided few who espouse the Kashmiri secessionist cause

Let me recount an incident to keep things in perspective.

A friend of mine, Baksi, had recently gone to Pakistan and returned after a few days. He was sleeping at home and told his Kashmiri friend that he had had a dream about his visit to Pakistan.

This is what he narrated: The Indian armed forces had withdrawn and the Pak forces had occupied all of Kashmir. The occupiers were mostly Pathans, the Taliban and some Punjabi soldiers. There was a sprinkling of ISI agents.

Their leader, a Punjabi military officer in uniform, addressed a crowd at Lal Chowk. He spoke in Punjabi and did not know a word of Kashmiri. He said that they were happy to be in Kashmir after throwing out the Indian occupiers and hereafter the Kashmiris can feel safe as long as they obeyed orders and followed the new rules. He then narrated the new rules.

The highlights were:

•  All women should wear the burka whenever they went out of their homes. They should not talk to any men when they were on the roads. If they break the rule they would be punished according to the new Sharia Law that will prevail hereafter.
   
•  All the boys will go to the newly opened madrasas and recite the Koran for five hours. They should not expect any computers. They will have paper books and slates and chalk. After school hours they should do manual labour to build more madrasas. They will be trained to be artisans, weaving carpets, making brassware and other articles of interest to tourists. They will also be trained to be cooks making special Kashmiri dishes for tourists. For physical exercise they should clear all the stones lying around and carry them for building mosques. They will begin by demolishing the temple on Sankaracharya Hill.  The Amarnath cave will be closed and the adjoining land will used for sheep grazing only.

The men will learn English to deal with tourists. They will keep their shikaras in good condition for tourists. Those who are educated will be given jobs as security men, chaprasis and clerks in Government offices. Higher posts will be reserved for Punjabis and Pathans.

There will be no schools or beauty parlours for women. They should stay at home and tend to the children and cook for the men.

No demonstrations or public speeches will be allowed. Those speaking against the Government will be tried summarily and jailed for five years. Human rights agencies will be treated similarly.

In all tourist infrastructure like hotels, lodges, restaurants, shikaras, taxis etc the locals will give a 50% share of ownership and earnings to the Pakistani officers.

At the end of the speech there was silence and some murmurs. The officer said in a loud voice that they should observe all the new rules if they wished to be safe in Pakistan or else they would be sent to India. There was loud cheering and the police fired in the air.

Thus ended my friend's recounting of the dream.   

Hearing the firing, Baksi woke up from his sleep and the dream remained in his mind and he went to meet his friend and narrate the experience. He then asked his friend, "Do we realise the consequences of azaadi? Do we still want to agitate for it?"

(The writer is former SEBI chairman, former chairman-Disinvestment Commission and former member, Planning Commission of India)