NEW DELHI, January 29: When he saw that mosq-ues were not being pu-lled down in Delhi and Taj Mahal had not been converted into a temple, 13-year-old Javed Ahmed Shah of Bradpora district in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir felt better about being an Indian.Though he swears by cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and raves about actress Urmila Matondkar, Shah was under the impression that Muslims were not permitted to live in India and mosques were either pulled down. It was a pleasant surprise for him and 30 other children from far-flung trouble-torn districts of the valley when the Army took them around Chandigarh, Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.``We went to the Jama Masjid. It is intact. And Muslims here live better than most of us in and around Srinagar,'' said Bilal Ahmed Wani, a 15-year-old from Najma Islamia Middle School in Chackpora. The students and teachers accompanying them (four women teachers have come for the first time) spoke about the misinformation campaign that terrorist organisations were spreading to get local support in the state.And to counter this campaign, the Army brought the children to see the truth for themselves. ``This is a deliberate attempt to spread awareness and goodwill among the new generation and prevent them from joining the other side (terrorists),'' said General Ved Prakash Malik, Chief of Army Staff. ``This is the 25th batch of children coming from different districts of J&K. Similarly, we are bringing children from north-eastern states too,'' he added. General Malik said the gun was not the solution to the problems in J&K. ``The problem is integration. They do not feel like they are part of India. The Army is trying to make them feel Indian. For perhaps the first time in their lives these children interacted with children from Chennai and Calcutta,'' the Army chief said.For this batch of 30 children, the last fortnight has been a ``dream come true''. Says Abbas Ahmed, a class VI student of Army Children Academy in Balpura: ``I have never been out of Kashmir and never dreamt of seeing so many beautiful places. We were told that Army men are killers but they are taking such good care of us''.General Malik told Express Newsline that the minuscule effort of the Army will go a long way to win over people in the valley. ``This sends the right message down the line. These children are of an impressionable age and when they go back they tell other children about their trip. They influence not only their friends but also their parents and relatives,'' he said.
