No heroes in Kashmir, only villains (Part-2)

New Delhi, March 24 The downfall of the administrative and political set up in Kashmir in the late 1980s and early 1990s had a direct bearing on the rise of militancy, which was fully aided and abetted by Pakistan and took a totally communal colour.

Veteran journalist Brij Bhardwaj, who covered Kashmir for over 50 years and is a witness to one of the tumultuous chapters of the state's and nation's history, says: "The continued political bungling by the Centre and state governments gave the space to those elements who always wanted to whip an anti-India wave in Kashmir. In the 1950s and 1960s and a big part of the 1970s, there was a leadership which could take decisions and largely kept the separatist and pro-Pakistan elements in check."

Official patronage of militancy

In the late 1980s when Farooq Abdullah was the Chief Minister in Jammu and Kashmir, and Mufti Mohd Sayeed the Union Home Minister, thousands of people were going to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

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