By raking up the beef ban issue, the sangh parivar has compounded the problems of Jammu and Kashmir where the PDP-BJP government faces an "acid test" to bring good governance, former RAW chief A S Dulat today said.
He said people of the Valley are "extremely frustrated" with the presence of army in their backyards.
A member of the National Security Advisory Board, Dulat said,"Now, when a militant is killed in the Valley, thousands of Kashmiris take part in his last rites, just because they are fed up and extremely frustrated seeing the armed forces in their backyards throughout the day."
"Sangh Pariwar has compounded the prevailing problems by enforcing beef (ban) issue. This is going to be an acid test for the Mufti government, which is yet to bring good governance in the state," Dulat, who is regarded as one of India's leading experts on Jammu and Kashmir issue, said.
Responding to a query on what option the Kashmiris would choose in case a plebiscite takes place, Dulat said, "First and foremost, there is no chance that this will ever happen, but if it happens, then the people of Kashmir would ideally want to go for the third option...An independent or separate state, because they are Kashmiris."
The former special director of the Intelligence Bureau was speaking at the 'Tata Literature Live! Mumbai LitFest', where he was called as a special invitee.
Dulat was speaking on the topic "Never Ending Story- Can There Be A Peaceful Resolution to the Kashmir Issue?"
"All the people of Kashmir want a dialogue. They are very upset and frustrated with the presence of heavy armed forces," Dulat, who served in Kashmir as Joint Director Intelligence Bureau from 1988 to 1990, known as the most turbulent phase in the Valley, said.
Dulat had hit the headlines when his book 'Kashmir:The Vajpayee years' was released a few months back, which had startling revelations about Atal Bihari Vajpayee and about his experience in Kashmir during insurgency.
