Army imparts lessons on Kashmiri language to troops

In an attempt to connect with the Valley's local population, the army is imparting lessons in Kashmiri language, culture and sensibilities to its troops to avoid misunderstandings with the people.

"Through our programmes for our officers and jawans we make them understand the culture, religion, living standards, quality of life, the sensitivities of the people here," general officer commanding of Srinagar based 15 Corps Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters here, 85 kms from Srinagar.

The troops are fully sensitised to the local cultural, and their methodology of functioning will automatically become more humane, he said.

Through the Human Resource Development Centre at the Army's Srinagar headquaters, officers and soldiers are learning Kashmiri language, the Army commander said.

"There are lots of people (soldiers) who are learning the Kashmiri language. It will help us in reaching out to the people. What we are trying to do is to make extra efforts to reach out to the people," he said.

The army commander was talking to mediapersons on sidelines of his meet-the-people function in north Kashmir Handwara town.

Army is modifying its rules of engagement to suit the situation, Hasnain said.

"All we are trying to do is to bring a greater human face to our operations, to keep modifying our rules of engagement to suit the situation and environment," he said.

The corps commander said the concept of these efforts is to use the "heart as a weapon".

"To use the heart as a weapon, this is the doctrine, the methodology and the concept," he said.

Hasnain also announced that a cricket tournament Kashmir Premier League (KPL) will be held in the valley in the next month to encourage young cricketers to show their talent, which will be followed by a football tournament on a similar pattern.