A sense of helplessness prevailing in Kashmir: A.S. Dulat
NEW DELHI: A sense of helplessness prevails in Kashmir in the current political scenario and Delhi is not bothered about what was happening there, according to A.S. Dulat, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the country’s external intelligence agency.
“Kashmir is at a standstill, there is a status quo now. The Kashmiris live on hope more than anything else and there is a sense of helplessness,” he said, recalling a recent statement issued the Mirwaiz, the spiritual leader of Kashmiris.
Mr. Dulat was responding to a question from Shobhana K. Nair, Senior Deputy Editor, The Hindu, on the evolution of the relationship between the Abdullahs, the leading political family of Kashmir, and the different BJP governments at the Centre, during a session on ‘The Kashmir Connection’ at The Hindu Lit for Life in Chennai on Sunday (January 18, 2026).
Elaborating, he observed that there were two distinct BJPs, one under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and another under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that there was a world of difference in the way each treated Kashmir.
The then Prime Minister Vajpayee, he maintained, was more involved and wanted some form of resolution in Kashmir while the current government did not bother much. “So, there is a world of difference and I don’t think anybody in Delhi is bothered about anything happening in Kashmir now. It is a sad story and we should wait and see what happens,” said Mr. Dulat, the author of the book The Chief Minister and the Spy: An Unlikely Friendship based on his association with Dr. Farooq Abdullah during his stint in Kashmir as an intelligence officer.
On the abrogation of Article 370, Mr. Dulat maintained that it was inevitable as it was a hollow provision, a fig leaf. “Why would you deprive the Kashmiris of the fig leaf I don’t understand,” he wondered. But the eruption of mass protests that was expected after the abrogation didn’t happen because Kashmiris went largely silent. “This silence is scary because if people go silent, you do not know what is going to happen.” Monitoring Desk
