New Delhi, July 3: Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday said that decades of militancy has shattered the education system in Jammu and Kashmir and this is one of factors behind stone-pelting protests in the state.

The Army chief was interacting with students from Chhattisgarh who were on a trip to Delhi.

One of the them asked him why there were frequent stone-pelting incidents in the Kashmir Valley.

Gen Rawat replied that Kashmiris were being fed with misinformation that India was anti-Muslim and those who eat beef were being killed.

"They try to shield terrorists. They pelt stones as it is easily available. (Stone-)pelting is not (something) new. Unemployment is a factor for this, but it is not unique to Kashmir. There is unemployment in other parts of the country as well. Youngsters there don't pelt stones.

"Education there (Kashmir) is shattered. Most of the schooling is done through madarassas, which cannot get you good jobs."

He said the Army had two ways of dealing with the situation.

"The harsh way or the other way is to make them understand that what they are doing is wrong. We bring some of the people from there to Delhi to show we don't have Army on every corner here as Delhi is peaceful. If Kashmir is also peaceful, the Army will be taken away from there."

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Lokayukta sleuths on Tuesday conducted simultaneous raids on eight government officers across the state in connection with alleged disproportionate assets cases, officials said.

According to Lokayukta sources, the raids were carried out in the morning at the residences and offices of at least eight officials serving in different departments and districts, including Kodagu, Bidar and Mysuru.

Among those searched is I K Puttaswamy, an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) posted at Harangi Dam sub-division in Kodagu district.

In Bidar, searches were conducted against Suresh K L, retired Finance Controller at the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU), Nandinagar.

Officials said Shivanna, Deputy Director in the Fisheries Department in Ballari, was also covered under the operation.

In Mysuru, premises linked to Kiran Kumar, Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department, were searched.

In Chitradurga, raids were conducted against Susheelamma, a retired accounts assistant, while in Mangaluru, Babu B N, serving as an Assistant Drug Controller, was among those targeted.

Similarly, in Shivamogga, Shobha K R, District Officer at the Backward Classes Welfare Department and Ajay Singh, Assistant Executive Engineer in the District Urban Development Cell, were also subjected to searches.

"A coordinated operation was launched this morning against multiple officials suspected to have amassed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income," a Lokayukta official said.

"The searches are being carried out at several locations simultaneously and are still in progress," the official added.