Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army General Ved Prakash Malik on Wednesday termed the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway for the civilian movement as the dumb idea.
The retired general said that the banning of the highway isagainst the army’s core objective of “winning hearts and minds” of the localpopulace.
“Kashmir. Ban on move of civ vehs on NH twice a week is adumb idea 1. Goes against core object of winning hearts & minds. 2. Civil Admmust weigh pros & cons 3. Instead of strengthening local police & int,& improving move security, shows forces becoming over defensive (sic),” theformer Indian COAS tweeted on the second day of the highway closure.
While the army stationed in the Valley has said they don’t have any information about the closure of the highway, the outgoing union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that he would not revoke the order banning the civilian movement.