Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years by AS Dulat (English Audiobook)
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EnglishVoice Age
Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
Indian (General) Indian (Hindi)Transcript
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a job but Phil, one day during my tenure in the Prime Minister's office or PMO when I unexpectedly landed after my time heading the research and analysis wing or raw was up. I was as usual discussing Kashmir with Brajesh Mishra, the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Atal bihari Vajpayee, who also served as India's first national security adviser. Do you know, do the only thing straight in Kashmir are the populace? He said Kashmir has been a part of my life since I first visited in 1987 in preparation for my posting there as deputy director in the Intelligence Bureau. The Kashmir Valley is beautiful all year round and it's difficult to say which season is most beautiful. Spring, however, is special with fruit blossoms, tulips, daffodils and narcissus. So even after retirement, come the Durbar move para and my wife and I still make our annual constitutional visit to Srinagar to savor the crispness of the air and a round or two of golf. But most of all to catch up with old friends. Baron thinks I'm nuts interacting with Kashmiris on an almost daily basis. Even 10 years after I left the government, she herself is acquainted with many Kashmiri voices, literally when I was deeply involved with Kashmir in the 19 nineties, our day in New Delhi normally began with a telephone call, which parent would receive with an job. This was before mobile phones. In due course, she recognized regular callers to whom she assigned nicknames, Tweedle dee and tweedle Dum Beehive sidekick, Gingersnaps grown sleepyhead, etcetera. God knows how she came up with these names. But we would laugh our guts out. It was the lighter side of what was a stressful period. Karen's favorite was Gingersnaps who was politeness personified. In 2012. I was in Srinagar with Sharon and six of her friends and a regular visitor to a hut at the center hotel was Firdos side, a former militant commander in chief who went by the name of babar. But are the ladies were excited at meeting a militant and one of them, Sonya Panty sacrificed a trip to Gulmarg to spend the morning listening to Firdos story, how could such a decent person ever have been a terrorist? She asked me afterwards, I explained that Firdos was not a terrorist in the way she imagined one to be, but one of many disillusioned Kashmiris who took to the gun more significantly, Firdos understood the futility of violence As early as 1994 when he wrote of his shattered dream, quoting fares fares Reports of boys like Firdos coming and going to Pakistan began to trickle in as soon as I was posted to Srinagar in May 1988, there was no hint of this. When I had come for my Familiarization visit six months earlier at that time. It all seemed like a holiday with a grand farewell party at Chief Minister Farooq, Abdullah's residence for my predecessor, K. P. Singh who was on his way to the National Defense College. And we had vodka and kebabs by the fireside at Highland Park with Praveen Mahendra, a colleague. While it snowed outside during my first visit to Gulmarg, it all seemed like a picnic Kashmir was at its glorious best soon. I would also see it at its worst. The first report of serious concern I got came a month into my tenure from an unlikely source, Granite Sani was a young suave, good looking Punjabi businessman whose father Raj owned a flour mill and used to be called Sheikh. Abdullah's 4th son. We've had a lot of Kashmiri friends, a lot of contacts and his family was known to us. Please find out whatever is happening. There is not good, he said, What are you implying? I asked boys from downtown srinagar are turning to Pakistan. He said, you need to be on your guard. There was a lot of going to and coming from Pakistan and for someone new in the valley like me who was tasked basically to keep Farooq Abdullah in good humor. It was bewildering