But I think the army realised quite early on that if you want to win Kashmir, you have to have the people on your side. I think, given the prevailing circumstances, some sort of insurgency would have broken out. It was one of those tragedies that people have to go through. We couldn't have stopped it. Also, it is very easy to start a conflict, and very difficult to quell one.
Nobody thinks of the end consequences, the loss of lives, limbs, property, etc.
What I think could have been done better is that the application of counter-force should have been more calibrated. To begin with, as I said, the way the central leadership caved into these people smacked of sheer incompetence. Secondly, the State's handling of the situation was abysmal, whether it is your Cabinet, the bureaucrats, or any other officials. Then, the decision to send in the CRPF and BSF soldiers was wrong. Some of these soldiers had never seen action at close quarters at all.