When Er Rasheed walked into Harco House, Bollywood actor Prakash Raj was telling young supporters of Shah Faesal that the Center should listen to Kashmiri voices.
Rasheed dived into the conversation right away.
“They (Centre) havebeen listening to us. Now we want to listen from New Delhi. I have myself met Home Minister a dozentimes. I also had a meeting with Prime Minister. They know it all. The onlything is they need some courage to address the Kashmir issue,” Rasheed said,evoking laughter.
“We are tired,” saidRasheed.
Raj appeared to agree. “They want you to talk what they wantto hear. In cinema, the actor knows the writer is telling the story he alreadyknows. He is not ready to do something new.”
Raj added: “Hating any human being is not right. There is novikalp (alternative). You need to remove that vikalp (alternative). When youcannot hit the man you want to hit you hit somebody else. That hatred is worry for me this time.”
“I am more in frontof cameras than I am used to in cinema,” Raj said, pointing towards mobilephones and cameras recording the conversation.
However, Rasheed seemed to be in no mood to relent.
“Since this is Kashmir, it has become an experimental lab. Iam telling you the larger context. Because anything new you want to do istested in Kashmir. They hanged Afzal Guru. It was just to get Rahul Baba inpower. But god is there…”
Concluding the interaction, Raj said: “I only requestKashmiris to stay together and stay united. That is the only way. They willbreak you, separate you. That is how divide and rule is done. Create hatredagainst one another. Whenever you show resilience, they will listen to you.That’s more important.