Let146;s hear the people now

My hunch is that the forthcoming meeting with the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, in New York was very much on the mind of Pri...

My hunch is that the forthcoming meeting with the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, in New York was very much on the mind of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he talked to Hurriyat leaders in Delhi a few days ago. He can now well tell him that India has met the requirement 8212; a dialogue with the Hurriyat 8212; on which Pakistan has been insisting all along. This also means that New Delhi has come to be convinced that it will make no headway with Islamabad until it has held parleys with Hurriyat leaders. Otherwise, it is difficult to figure out why the government agreed to talk exclusively to the Hurriyat, and that too the truncated entity.

While doing so, New Delhi has conceded that the Hurriyat, led by Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, is the representative body in Kashmir. Maybe the government had little choice after Islamabad said that it recognised the Hurriyat alone. But India may have to pay a heavy price for this because it has negated the outcome of the last state assembly elections which the Hurriyat had boycotted and which the other political parties had fought despite the militants8217; terror.

Another point that the Manmohan Singh government has conceded, probably unwittingly, is that Kashmir and Jammu are separate entities. Islamabad has been trying all these years to project that Muslim-majority Kashmir is different from Hindu-majority Jammu. New Delhi has played into the hands of Musharraf. Its argument 8212; that it will hold talks with the Jammu and Ladakh leaders subsequently 8212; does not wash. However pressed for time, the prime minister should have held talks with them before leaving for New York where he is meeting Musharraf on the sidelines of the UN annual session.

I have no doubt that Manmohan Singh will once again repeat to Musharraf that India can never agree to a settlement which divides the state on the basis of religion. It needs to be reiterated because even a whiff of parochial consideration can endanger India8217;s own secular polity. The BJP is keenly observing the scene and not long ago former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had written a letter to Manmohan Singh to warn him against conceding too much to Pakistan. The prime minister has, indeed, weakened his stand by talking only to the Hurriyat which has come a long way from the point from which it had started in 1989. Then, it was a secular force, although thoughtlessly militant and violent, with the backing of Islamabad. Today it is a Muslim body which has adopted an Islamic medium and often uses the mosque to convey its message. Its tilt towards Islamabad is blatant. The first thing Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz does after his meeting with the prime minister is to contact Pakistan. Still, talking to the Hurriyat is useful but giving it the prime place is unwise.

It should not come as a surprise when Mirwaiz goes to town after meeting with the prime minister to assert that 8216;8216;this process on its own makes it clear that the Kashmir issue is no longer bilateral as it is now a triangular process.8217;8217; It has been India8217;s effort to seek Pakistan8217;s involvement in searching for a solution to Kashmir all along. Agreements at Tashkent, Shimla or Lahore have been testimony to this. But giving the Hurriyat a seat at the negotiating table will revive the questions about its representative character, its opposition in Jammu and Ladakh and its acceptability in India. It can be involved after New Delhi and Islamabad have come to an understanding over the state8217;s integration with India. Then the words like 8216;8216;sovereignty8217;8217; and 8216;8216;independence8217;8217; will fall into their proper slots.

I think that former Hurriyat chairman Abbas Ansari, also a member of the team which had talks with the prime minister, made a better suggestion at the meeting. He proposed trade between the two sides of Kashmir and beyond, and more routes across the LoC for people-to-people contact. If one Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road can change the climate to the extent that both sides talk more about economic development than territorial adjustment, imagine the outcome of free trade between the two Kashmirs and free flow of people from one side to another. The same formula of trade and contact can be duplicated in India and Pakistan on the whole. People, once they meet, talk and overcome their suspicion towards one another, will throw up a solution which is acceptable to them. Maybe, the governments in both the countries have got into a groove. They should throw open the discussion. New ideas are bound to come up.

For this, it is essential for terrorism to end. When even the last cinema in the heart of Srinagar has to shut down because of an encounter between the terrorists and the security forces, it does not take much to conclude that peace is yet to be ushered in. It is obvious that Pakistan has not yet made good on its solemn promise to crush terrorism. Nor has it closed down the training camps which, to New Delhi8217;s dismay, have increased in the recent past. Foreign Minister Natwar Singh claims to have their exact location and address. One has a nagging feeling that Islamabad has not completely given up the option of resuming 8216;8216;interference8217;8217; in the Valley in a big way.

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The prime minister has justifiably advised the Hurriyat to do its bit to curb violence in the Valley. Violation of human rights is no ground for killing the innocent. One crime does not justify another. New Delhi has already initiated the bilateral process of reviving all cases of those detained under the Public Safety Act or the now defunct POTA. There are instances where the state government has been vindictive. Musharraf may confront Manmohan Singh with specific cases. It would be more helpful to the situation if the two were not to score points off each other and instead concentrate on how to craft an absolute peace in Kashmir.