Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain is the first Muslim general to commandeer 15 Corps

Soon after taking over in Dec 2010, he declared 2011 to be the `Year of the Kashmiri Awam’

The general began Awami Sunwais all across to assess and address people’s grievances

He has also organised seminars where college students, youth and citizens were invited

This summer, the army held 300 matches between 193 teams of the first Kashmir Premier League T20 tournament.

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A t last, the army seems to be getting something right in Kashmir. After two decades of using the jackboot, brutal excesses and an indifferent attitude towards the collective anger of the Kashmiris against the men in uniform, a general has taken it upon himself to sensitise his force to the Kashmiris and assure the latter in the process that the army can be their friend, not foe. That his is a Muslim name is a relevant fact, but only just. With militancy ebbing and even...