Not buying peace, establishing it for ever in J&K, says L-G Manoj Sinha

The central government is not trying to buy peace in Kashmir but wants to establish it and opening cinemas is part of the administration's efforts to bring back a lost era, Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday.

Inaugurating a 100-seater Inox multiplex in Shivpora area of Srinagar, a first of its kind, Sinha said it reflects the change on ground since the Centre took over the administration of J&K.

"After August 5, 2019, historic decision (to revoke the special status of Jammu & Kashmir) taken by the determination of the prime minister in parliament, the government at Delhi is not trying to buy peace in J&K, but to establish it permanently," Sinha said.


He said the film industry has a great history in the valley as at one time hundreds of people thronged cinemas here every day. Cinemas like Shiraz, Khayyam, Regal, Palladium, Broadway, Naaz, and Firdous in Srinagar used to by hubs of entertainment.

"We are trying to bring back that era," Sinha said while appreciating the efforts of the Dhar family that opened the multiplex here after decades.

Cinemas in Kashmir were shut in Kashmir in 1990 when local youth took up arms and the theatres were changed into the camps for the armed forces.

"Those who ruled J&K for years used to fly outside J&K and even foreign countries for their own entertainment while all means of entertainment remained choked for the locals here," Sinha said in an indirect reference to regional political parties that ruled the region in the last three decades.

"Now locals could entertain themselves and this would expand the canvas of their dreams and goals," he said.