He blamed Pakistan for trying to take advantage of the current unrest in the valley.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army’s Chinar Corps, Lieutenant General Satish Dua on Friday admitted that the protests which erupted immediately after the killing of charismatic Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last month were spontaneous.
He, however, said that the protests were followed by “engineered violence” in north Kashmir.
“The situation (right now) is far from normal. For the initial few days after July 8, there were spontaneous protests. Thereafter we have seen a cycle of almost engineered violence more in north Kashmir,” Hindustan Times quoted General Dua as saying.
He blamed Pakistan for trying to take advantage of the current unrest in the valley.
“During these days there have been attempts from Pakistan to facilitate more infiltration as they think we are busy internally. But you all know how many encounters took place with militants (during these days) and many more were pushed back (across the LoC),” said General Dua.
He also appealed to the youth of Kashmir Valley to help restore peace.
“For how long can you do this and what will happen by this? Like chief minister said on August 15, give peace a chance. Now is the time that we have to bring peace together. Children are not able to go to school.
Fruits are not moving to markets. Patients are not able to go to hospitals. And there are many difficulties like these,” General Dua said on the sidelines of a passing out parade in Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Centre in Rangreth in Budgam district.