On the table

With both the hardliners and the moderates steadfastly boycotting its proceedings, the only commendable aspect of Tuesday8217;s third round-table conference on Jammu and Kashmir, arguably, was that it took place at all. Facetious as this may sound, there is some virtue in remaining steadfast about an open-ended search for peace in the state. But the process needs to be animated by a unifying idea.

It is this search for that big idea that leads to the suggestion that may be India needs to look beyond its borders for models of reconciliation. How, for instance, was a ten-year insurgency, that claimed innumerable lives in Nepal, brought to an end? Two common objectives 8212; credible democracy and the end to autocratic palace rule 8212; brought the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists insurgents on to the negotiating table. The 12-point understanding reached between these two entities last November was broad enough to paper over the considerable differences between them, and provided a sound basis for further negotiations. Then there was the devolution idea that had almost led to the cessation of hostilities between the Tamil insurgents and the All-Parties Representative Conference in Sri Lanka last year. It did not quite rein in violence and usher in stability but the idea of devolution continues to be the foundational concept for the revival of any peace initiative in that country.

In J038;K, both democracy and devolution remain important and the prime minister8217;s advisor on Kashmir, Wajahat Habibullah, clearly hopes to further this through the setting up of regional assemblies, the electing of a zila shoora for each district, and the strengthening the halqa majlis, which are roughly equivalent to the gram sabha in other states. But if democracy and devolution have to have a perceptible impact on the lives of the local people, they need to be integrated with trade and economic dividends. Political plus economic empowerment could be the big idea that challenges the agenda of the insurgent and malcontent in J038;K.