On Friday, P. Chidambaram, the former Union Finance Minister said that he has a feeling Kashmir is nearly lost. He blamed the BJP government for this and said that the use of brutal force to settle issues in the state has caused this loss.
The Congress leader, speaking at Manthan, a public disclosure platform said that the situation would only worsen if the government will not change its course of action like the action taken by the Cabinet Committee in 2010. After 2010, the violence in the state reduced, but in recent times has grown many folds.
The ex-Finance Minister also said that seven million people of Kashmir felt alienated by the methods of the Indian Government and that it is a ‘terrible’ mistake.’ Also, he felt that the statement by the Chief of Army Staff Bipin Rawat to consider anyone interfering with defence operations should be considered anti-national was the last straw in this loss.
He also spoke about Demonetisation and its effect on the Country. He said it was the Government that is to be blamed for creating conditions for former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan to decline a second term in office, because he opposed Demonetisation. He felt that the reputation of RBI has reduced manifold after Raghuram Rajan.
Chidambaram also said that the effect of Demonetisation can be seen in Government’s failure to show extra revenue or expenditure in the Annual Budget. He proposed an open economy, which though not advisable would create wealth. The Minister also said Crony Capitalism will help in developing an open economy and must be regulated and punished.
