Joining the dots in J038;K

I wish the Government of India had a policy on Kashmir. It has defended the state against all odds. But this is only a territorial assertion...

I wish the Government of India had a policy on Kashmir. It has defended the state against all odds. But this is only a territorial assertion of sovereignty, not a policy that entails winning over alienated Kashmiris or seeking an agreement with Pakistan that considers the state or, more so the Valley, a core issue. New Delhi realises that the problem is political. Yet, when it comes to framing the policy it reduces it to rhetoric or wishful thinking. The policy, if any, reflects tactics or a reaction to what Pakistan does. There is nothing called a long-term, well-considered plan. New Delhi8217;s problem is that it is hopelessly dependent on the intelligence agencies and the mindset bureaucrats. They have their own agenda and preposterous propositions. Entangled in the web woven around it, the government goes over the same exercise again and again.

The latest from New Delhi is the proposal to appoint a committee to pursue the resolution that the National Conference NC government had adopted in the legislature five years ago to draw the contours of autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. The formation of a committee by itself is no progress. It is the means, not an end. The government must first make up its mind whether it is willing to give Kashmir full autonomy within India. If the past is any indication, the committees are constituted not to face the facts but to cloud them.

The immediate problem in Kashmir is the violation of human rights. When the NC, led by former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, sits in dharna, along with the Hurriyat leaders, the message is that the Kashmiris are not being treated like the rest of people in India. Allegations of excesses and the offences committed by authorities and the security forces have to be verified by an agency other than the government in Srinagar. The National Human Rights Commission NHRC has earned credibility and it is respected in Kashmir. Why have the security forces in the state been kept out of the NHRC jurisdiction? At least, the paramilitary forces should be straightaway put under its purview. The Justice Ahmedi Committee, appointed by the Central government, made this proposal nearly five years ago. The report is still lying in the home ministry accumulating dust. As for autonomy, even if there is a considered report, there is no guarantee that it will be implemented, particularly when the parties concerned have shown little interest in the proposed committee.

The Hurriyat, an omnibus party of some 26 groups, has already made it clear that it is not interested in any government-constituted committee. It may not even meet its members because it wants to have a dialogue with New Delhi at the ministerial level, nothing less. The BJP does not consider the proposal worth commenting upon. However, Murli Manohar Joshi has said in the rganiser, the RSS mouthpiece, that the country could not go back to the past when New Delhi and Srinagar had entered into certain agreements. The party8217;s own demand is to abolish Article 370 which gives Jammu and Kashmir a special status. When in power less than a year ago, the party had vehemently opposed the NC resolution. There was so much pressure on Farooq Abdullah that he had to put it in cold storage.

The outline of autonomy is, however, yet to be determined. The NC resolution goes beyond to what Sheikh Abdullah had agreed in his accord with Indira Gandhi in 1975. In fact, the NC resolution restores to a large extent the 1952 pact between New Delhi and Srinagar. Still, it falls short of what the instrument of accession had conceded to New Delhi: foreign affairs, defence and communication. Incidentally, the Sheikh 8212; the signatory to the 1952 agreement 8212; was detained soon after and kept at Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu for some 10 years. Nonetheless, confining New Delhi to just these three subjects may well be justified if that can win over the Kashmiris. After all, the state acceded to the Union of India on certain conditions. It is up to the people of the state to allot more subjects to Union. The Union cannot, on its own, usurp the authority that belongs to the state. Unfortunately, Delhi has encroached upon Kashmir8217;s territory through various subterfuges. In fact, we are reaping what the Congress governments had sown after the independence. They never allowed the state to function on its own unlike the pattern elsewhere in the country.

The Committee on Autonomy may be of little help if Pakistan is bypassed. New Delhi has said all along that it would discuss Kashmir with Islamabad. The Shimla agreement says that Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be settled. As things are today, the Kashmiris may also not accept the solution with which Pakistan is not associated. Even otherwise, any settlement without involving Islamabad, may not be lasting. This was clear at a seminar in Islamabad which I attended a few days ago. The European Parliament All Party Group for Kashmir at Brussels was the sponsor. A member from the European Parliament was in the chair. Top leaders from the other side of the LoC attended the seminar but our representation was of second rung. New Delhi did not allow the first rung to go to Islamabad. It was not surprising to hear from the Kashmiris on both sides that they wanted to decide their own 8220;destiny8221;. But they insisted on Pakistan8217;s association with the settlement, as much as India8217;s. They first argued for mediation but gave up when the Indian delegation opposed it.

The two seminars, one at Kathmandu and the other at Islamabad 8212; the second was not a sequel to the first one 8212; has brought out one thing: the Kashmiris want to meet and discuss their future among themselves. This should not in any way disturb New Delhi. The European Parliament Group proposes to have the next meeting at New Delhi before the global discourse at Brussels. It would be a pity if India were to stop the participation of Kashmiris from the other side of the LoC. Even if there is no agreement at Delhi, the talks for conciliation will be a plus point.