“Operation Sindoor was a message to the enemies of peace. PoJK will be the next chapter. We’re not stopping until justice is served—to our people, our territory and our history,” said Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister for Science & Technology, in his Presidential address. He was speaking at the book launch event of The Kashmir Chronicles (1986-2023) authored by Dr Vijay K Sazawal at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi on May 17. The event was organised by Bharat Neeti Pratishthan.
Dr Singh said, “The greatest blunder of this country was the partition. A nation cannot have two Prime Ministers, thus the ambition of two people created this divide. No countryman had demanded the partition of Bharat. The deterioration started from there. This was the beginning of the turmoil.” He further added that the trajectory of Government is clearly seen from the abrogation of Article 370 to the Pulwama response, and from decisive counter-terror strikes to the successful execution of Operation Sindoor. In Viksit Bharat 2047, reclaiming PoJK is no longer a dream but a goal. He signaled that Bharat’s Kashmir story is far from over—and the world must take note.
Defence expert Brigadier Brijesh Pandey (Retd) said, “When it comes to perception, every fullstop, every comma, every word matters and I’m glad the author has introduced many new vocabularies in this book. This book is a myth buster and its launch is very timely due to current unfolding events. This is the beginning of a new chapter in Bharat’s history.”
Brig Pandey, a seasoned veteran who served in Kashmir, further explained that he tried to understand the phenomenon of mechanisation of stone pelting and came to understand that the problem of Kashmir is radicalisation. It is crucial to curb the intense hate and radicalisation in the youth of the region. Although hard power was used properly by our country, soft power was not. He narrated many shocking incidents that he came across during his time in Kashmir. For ex. Marriages were happening on phone and the Pakistani spouse would come to Bharat on a temporary visa that lasted for 20 years! He lauded the present Government for taking care of this menace by abrogating article 370. “Today we are lucky to have it all—the leadership, the armed forces, the high moral ground and the will of the people,” he praised.
The author Dr Vijay Sazawal narrated interesting anecdotes of his experience on Kashmir. The US based scientist said that the book is multi dimensional and multi layered because Kashmir is so. The west created differences in people’s minds and made the Hindu-Muslim issue as Bharat-Pakistan issue. This was made clear to him by an official from the US embassy. “We don’t want to give it a Hindu Muslim angle, it is strictly an India-Pakistan issue,” she had said.
He further elaborated that early 1990s was a dark period not just for Kashmir but whole Bharat. Seven prime ministers changed in 10 years. Quality of leadership was intensely poor. Army wanted to do the best for the country but couldn’t due to lack of strong leadership. The country was in doldrums. In such turmoil, separatist Hurriyat was encouraged that resulted in grim after effects.
Dr Kuldeep Ratnoo, Director, Bharat Neeti Pratishthan conducted the proceedings and Shri Girdhari Lal Raina gave the vote of thanks. This is a well documented, well chronicled and well researched book. It is an unbiased and objective account as it is written by a scientific mind.
