After working with Kashmiri children, mostly terror victims and orphans, for over two decades, Nahar plans to introduce a postgraduate diploma in counter-terrorism and peace management -a two-year course for which admission begins on March 15 and classes start in July.

“It is far from the truth that by killing a handful of militants and arresting another few, we will some day end terrorism. We have to counter it, like we counter any other problem. And apart from the army no other government agency or for that matter even a private body is trained professionally on this,” Nahar said.

“We need to deal this professionally, so a full-fledged course was the requirement of the day. I have been designing the course for the last two years but after 26/11 we tweaked the syllabus to include ‘press, media and terrorism’,” he said.

The course material comprises books written by experts and others based on insurgencies in Kashmir and other parts of the country. Books on terrorism available in the market, such Bullet for Bullet by Julio Rebeiro, will also be included.

Sagar Mahadev Rao Hande, who is currently pursuing his Masters in psychology in the University of Pune, wants to join this course. “I hope to become a clinical psychologist. The course on counter-terrorism will help me get a better position in my career,” he said.

Of career options, Nahar said, “We plan to approach around 2,000 companies from various sectors for the recruitment of the first batch that will pass out in 2011. Hotels, banks, malls and IT firms have shown an interest in hiring counter-terrorism professionals. We have also designed a four-month certificate course for professionals like bankers, journalists, legal practitioners, policemen and NGOs.”

Nahar said guests would interact with the students and these should ideally include former terrorists, terror victims and officers who have dealt with terrorism.