12th edition of Khushwant Singh Literary Festival kicks off

Shimla, October 13

AS Dulat, the former chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), said that it’s time political and democratic process was restored in Jammu and Kashmir.

“What Kashmir desperately needs today is the revival of democratic and political process. It has been promised in Parliament that statehood would be restored to J&K,” he said during a conversation at the 12th edition of the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival, which kicked off in Kasauli today.

Dulat further said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to go to Kashmir and announce that statehood would be restored and elections would be held within two months, he would be garlanded by the Kashmiris. Answering the question on the need for political outreach in Kashmir, the former RAW chief said that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Kashmir as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra had revived the idea of India in Kashmir, which is fading away. “If the BJP were to lose in 2024, a lot of credit must go to Rahul Gandhi’s yatra,” he said.

In another session held during the day, Parakala Prabhakar, a Hyderabad-based social and political commentator, who is the husband of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, criticized the current regime for the gap between its promise and delivery.

Continuing with the critical tone that he used for the current regime in his book ‘The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis’, Prabhakar said all exciting announcement such as Make in India, Skill India, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, etc., by the BJP government turned out to be empty slogans. “There’s no seriousness to actually implement these announcements.

For example, if the government was really serious about its Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao campaign, there would not have been a protest by women wrestlers and women would not have been paraded in Manipur the way they were,” he said.

While he answered all the questions put to him bluntly, he ducked the question about how he and his wife keep peace at home due to their diametrically opposite political views.

The other speakers on the opening day included tennis player Jaidip Mukerjea, Indrani Mukerjea, Mani Shankar Aiyar, among others.