KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has said that the recent unrest in Kashmir has been grossly mishandled by the Government of India to the extent that the region reflects as the biggest blot on Indian democracy in the West.
“It is the biggest blot on Indian democracy. There’s no question about that. There are a number of claimants to that position of being a blot. It is a case that figures a lot in foreign discussions. On my first night when I came here, a long CNN coverage on the brutality of policing and law and order was aired,” Sen told India Today.
In an interview to India Today with Karan Thapar on his show To The Point, Sen said that India has mishandled Kashmir for decades.
“I don’t deny that Kashmiris are meant to be Indians. The Kashmiris’ attitude to rest of India has varied a lot. Basically, we have mishandled it for a number of decades. Right now, we are mishandling it very badly indeed,” Sen said.
“It is not a law and order problem. It is the people of Kashmir we are looking at. It is quite important to do the law and order right. The kind of horrific and violent treatment of protest and also banning newspapers will isolate Kashmiris. All these are penalising Kashmiris in a way is giving them absolutely no reason to feel close to India,” he added.
