As frustration of the Kashmiri Hindus gathered at the venue grew to anger, Madhav first tried to quell the passion by telling them how a government works. He said the Centre and state government’s ultimate objective was to not merely ensure the Pandits’ return to the Valley or ensure the safety of NIT students, but create an environment in the region that would make today’s separatists turn into tomorrow’s nationalists, who would hoist the National Flag with as much pride as the rest of the nation does!

Madhav was, of course, seen in two different avatars in course of the show. While he sounded defensive in the beginning where he sought to separate the plight of Pandits and that of the NIT students, going to the extent of almost admonishing the students for turning political instead of quietly pursuing their studies, he later turned the heat on lawyer-activist Shabnam Lone when she was found uncomfortable with the idea that the Indian State would make today’s secessionists hoist the National Flag tomorrow.

“Let me, at the outset, disapprove of this equating Kashmiri Pandits’ issue with what has happened in NIT recently. Don’t try to mix up and don’t try to create unnecessary passions,” Madhav told the anchor of the show, NewsX’s chief editor Rahul Shivshankar.

When told how the Pandit and NIT stories were related, Madhav fumed, “If you say that you have to follow the narrative of the students, then you have to give that freedom to the students of JNU, to the students in other universities. What you have to do is allay the fears. What you have to ensure is that they are safe, secure. They are in the Valley only to pursue their academic careers; they are not there to pursue politics. You are forcing them to pursue politics there.”

He continued-

Their security should be ensured — that the government of the day has to ensure. The central government and the state government — both are doing their best to ensure their security. But the larger issue is: None of us should try and do anything that will further the problems that they are facing and also disturb their academic career. The NIT has been there for several years in the Valley. Several new institutions are coming up. We have sanctioned an AIIMS in the Kashmir Valley. What will happen to AIIMS tomorrow if this narrative goes on?

The security part, the government will take care (of). But remember, protecting the academic careers of the students is also important. We are committed to that also. We want to secure their academic career. Yes, they have a fear psychosis; they wanted to come back; they came out (of the Valley), which is very unfortunate. But their exams will be held whenever they go back. Sure, we will be able to convince them to go back. We will provide full security to them.

Maj Gen GD Bakshi did not agree that the state government’s measures would make the NIT students confident enough to go back to the campus-

In military terms, we judge situations by the end results. There are pious intentions. I’m sure they are noble intentions that are being spelt out. As a military man, may I tell you, when I tell you that the end result is (this): in 1990, we saw 350-400 thousand people of a particular denomination driven out of Jammu & Kashmir. Circa 2016, instead of seeing anybody go back, we have seen 2,000 more non-Kashmiri students driven out for waving the National Flag, for shouting slogans about the nation....



..The problem is the battle of narratives. The best way to solve a problem is to face it squarely. Don’t push it under the carpet. We are losing the battle of narratives. The narrative is now in Delhi; it is in Hyderabad… The narrative is in Jadavpur University in Calcutta. We are facing an Arab Spring....There is an attempt, and there are foreign elements involved in it, to question your nationalism. Forget about the battle in J&K; fight the battle here in Delhi; fight the battle in JNU… You cannot separate these narratives. When somebody shouts here, ‘Afzal hum sharmindah hain, tere qaatil zindah hain (Afzal, we’re ashamed that your killers are alive),’ iska matlab kya hua, saahab? Aap keh rahe hain ki Supreme Court ke judge jinhon ne yeh sentence diya, abhi tak ham ne unko maara nahin. Unko maar daalo! (What does this mean? You’re saying that the Supreme Court judges who have given this sentence should be killed. Kill them!) If this is not incitement for violence, what else is?

Sushil Pandit was not convinced the two issues could be separated either. He said that the Pandits were believed by the local Muslims to be the flagbearers of the same brand of nationalism in the state. He said that during the period that the Pandits were still living in the Valley, they used to be abused as “agents of India”.

Actor Anupam Kher said that a scenario where the Pandits were being welcomed back to their home and hearth indeed did not exist.

Madhav defended the government’s position by arguing that the anti-national sentiment was nothing new in Kashmir. That the police have acted against anti-nationals in other parts of the country is proof, he claimed, that the government was not tolerating secessionism. But in Kashmir, where the administration was working, albeit in a more measured manner, he wanted the people of India to give the government more time. Madhav said-

Sometimes certain things are not highlighted. You know, when Pakistani Flags are swung in some areas, it becomes a big news item for the (television) channels to show all over. But you do not show the follow-up that the Jammu & Kashmir Police does immediately by filing FIRs and mostly, whenever they can catch them, they catch them and arrest them (the Pakistani Flag-waving people). And (a) legal process follows. This is the way you have to handle (situations) when you are in the government. You cannot take a rifle or a gun and shoot them. You have to tackle them legally. The effort is being done by the government there.....On 15 August 2015, our government, the BJP-PDP government in Jammu & Kashmir, took a decision that in every district headquarter, there should be flag-hoisting (ceremonies)....

Madhav said that while this could be a normal sight in the rest of the country, this was not being done in public view before; now it is. And he said that the locals are being encouraged to participate in the exercise.

He said that Kashmir was not the only place where the National Flag was not welcome. It was, he reminded people, equally unwelcome in Bastar and Dantewada of Chhattisgarh and almost the whole of Manipur. The implication was that the people should not be impatient for positive results from Kashmir alone.

He pleaded-

We are also coming from the same school (of thought — that of nationalism). We are also believers of national integrity. Give us an opportunity. If we fail, throw us out.