J&K governor bats for early resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue

“While it is important that Indo-Pak dialogue is resumed early, it is equally important that the conversations happen within families across villages, in towns and cities to build a social and moral consensus so that a congenial atmosphere is created for the government to take the required initiatives for securing peace and development,” Vohra said.

He said it is important that the House sets “thoughtful” standards of political discourse and paves the way for narrowing of differences with regard to political and societal issues, cutting across the party lines and ideological hues.

“If this is done, you would have succeeded in laying the foundation of sustainable peace in the state… The seeds of future will be sown by you — the elected and the nominated representatives of people.

“If all of us contribute toward positive and constructive debate, we can soon hope to achieve tangible results founded in an environment of reconciliation,” he said.

“In the last 30 years, there have been times when the very functioning of the democratic framework was endangered in our state, but we are lucky to have been successful in restoring the credibility of our institutions,” Vohra said.

For the last few years, from around 2008, the social order has been targeted and this has posed a far bigger challenge than any of the earlier ones, he said, adding “I am confident that we shall not allow the weave and weft of our social fabric to be affected in the name of religion or ethnicity”.

A worrying concern is that the younger generation, especially in the Valley, is less engaged civically, exhibits less social trust and confidence and, consequently, have a weaker commitment to the inherited value system, he said.

Addressing this serious issue has to receive very high priority and we need to urgently go forward to engage the youth, he said.