Centre stage at Srinagar

Four months after he announced his peace initiative from there, Prime Minister Vajpayee would be in Srinagar again. The cynics may argue tha...

Four months after he announced his peace initiative from there, Prime Minister Vajpayee would be in Srinagar again. The cynics may argue that little progress has been achieved down that road, at least in terms of India-Pakistan relations.

But this slow pace by itself may not be a bad thing as long as the pace is also steady. The holding of the Inter-State Council meeting at Srinagar, and that for the first time outside the Capital, does in itself send out many positive signals within and outside the country, not the least being a reaffirmation of J038;K as a key Indian state with its leadership being an important component of national policy-making.

At the same time, there is a perceptible weakening, if not actual fractures, in the cohesion of the All Party Hurriyat Conference that deserves notice. The political face of the separatist agenda had lost out many years ago when the jihad had to rely heavily on foreign fighters, undermining its political legitimacy. But the real dent in the Hurriyat8217;s position to speak for separatism and its accompanying violence came last year when the people overwhelmingly voted in the state elections, in effect rejecting that ideology and the political stance that sought to boycott the elections. Events since then have progressively and surely created further dents in the support for the type of ideology that the Hurriyat had promoted for years.

The Hurriyat as a political umbrella for separatism may now be sliding toward oblivion because of the fact that it appears to have lost the citizen8217;s confidence. Just for this reason there is need for the Centre to handle the conglomeration carefully. There is also a need to strengthen the benefits that could accrue to the Hurriyat in a variety of ways if it were to allow itself to be nudged toward the mainstream. Democracy in the real sense is heavily dependent not just on the rule by majority but the interventions of a constructive opposition. Our priority task ahead essentially revolves around removing the sense of grievances and alienation of the people.

The Hurriyat should be invited to join in that process. If this requires talking to them at the political level, the invitation should be duly extended 8212; preferably at Srinagar.