Only dialogue can resolve issues between India, Pak’

Kanpur: Social activist Medha Patkar is against any aggression or war between two nuclear armed neighbours--India and Pakistan. She said dialogue between the two nations is the only way to resolve all pending issues. “War with Pakistan will not benefit the country, and India cannot afford to engage in war with its neighbour (Pakistan),” she added.
Patkar was in the city to address IIT-K students at the institute's technical fest 'Techkriti' here on Saturday. Talking to TOI, she said, “If PM Narendra Modi could hold talks with former Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif, then why he cannot engage in dialogue with present Pakistan PM Imran Khan. The country cannot afford a war as this stage when we are growing.” She said common Kashmiri is not involved in stone pelting.

“We should ensure that there is no act of violence against Kashmiris, and they should be embraced. It is worth condemning that two Kashmiris were thrashed recently (in Lucknow),” she added.

Talking about cleanliness of Ganga, Patkar said Ganga is still not clean despite government spending a whopping Rs 22,000 crore. She said Ganga should not be allowed to flow freely, and its flow should not be checked with construction of dams.

“In the US, the government has razed one hundred dams to ensure that rivers flow unchecked, but in India, dams have been constructed all over Ganga which have been preventing its smooth flow of water,” Medha Patkar told TOI. How will the government clean Ganga by 2022 as promised, she asked. When asked what ‘mantra’ she would give to the IIT-K students during Techkriti, she said, “I have come here to tell the IIT community to work on developing technologies which can help underprivileged and downtrodden. The technologies should be developed keeping in view needs of the common people.”

The country has expectation from the younger generation and students and therefore, she is here to talk to the young minds, she added. Later in the evening, Patkar addressed students at the main auditorium of the institute.