Had a close call with death in Kashmir: TN Guv slams Islamic terrorism

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Monday slammed Islamic terrorism and said that he had a close call with death in Kashmir many times when he was in service in Srinagar.

"Kashmir has been associated with my life for 40 years. During the 1990s, the Home Ministry sent me to Srinagar to serve the people. Those were the days when smiles vanished from people's faces. The mourning of a death, the horror of violence. Many times, I had a close call with death. It was with the blessing of Maa Vitasta that I survived. It was the worst time of terror, with the incident at Hazratbal Dargah and the burning down of Charar-e-Sharief by the terrorists. It seemed that there was a well-crafted conspiracy to make Kashmir bleed and suffer, to erase its soul and its identity," he said while addressing the valedictory function of the Vitasta festival at Srinagar.

"When I came to Kashmir again in 2018 as the Deputy National Security Advisor, there was a significant decline in violence and as a result, tourists started coming again. Even then, there was an atmosphere of tension, with an apprehension that the period of violence might return again. But today, peace and tranquillity have returned. With more gusto than ever, Kashmir and its Kashmiriyat are resurging with new energy. For the magical transformation that happened in the last 4-5 years, on behalf of the people of Kashmir and the whole of India, I congratulate and express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.

"Bharat was formed by the Rishis and Munis and their thousands-year-old Darshan and legacy, based on which Bharat came into existence, " the former IPS officer reiterated and said that Buddhism has a deeper connection with Kashmir and It was an important centre of spiritualism.

Further Ravi said that a new India is emerging.

"Today, we are in a new era. India is the rising and shining sun on the horizon of the world. Today, when our PM speaks, the whole world listens carefully. Today, the world is witnessing the dynamic and positive emergence of India with great hope and expectations. Our diversity is our innate strength. There are so many variations in languages, dialects, costumes, cuisines, and geography. All these diversities that we see, if we go deep into them, have an underlying unity of India. This unity binds India together in this thread. We have to nourish and further strengthen it, " RN Ravi said.

Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab, and other officials were present on the occasion.