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Journalism of Courage
The Centre and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference APHC may be laying the ground for dialogue, but restoration of peace in Kashmir still seems elusive.
This has been despite the sudden shift in the stand of the two parties for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio. Reason: Apart from their own political compulsions, none of them has any control over militants holding the gun in the Valley.
If the Centre does extend a formal invitation to Hurriyat leaders for talks, it would be tantamount to recognising them as sole representatives of the Kashmiris. This may annoy the elected National Conference government headed by Farooq Abdullah, though he has been frequently saying that his government was not opposed to the Centre holding a dialogue with anybody on Kashmir.However, behind-the-scene efforts have already kickstarted in view of the recent visits of Union Home Minister L K Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes to the Valley, as also the emergence of former State Chief Minister Syed Mir Qasim as a key player. Fernandes along with Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah called on Qasim at his residence in Kashmir recently.
Qasim, who paved the way for the installation of Sheikh Abdullah as Chief Minister by bringing about a rapprochement between him and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, however, described Fernandes8217; visit as a courtesy call. 8220;Though I told them what I felt about where the Centre failed on Kashmir, they said nothing, except that it was a courtesy call,8221; he said, adding that the meeting had lasted for an hour.
However, when asked to comment on reports about the possibility of a dialogue between the Centre and the Hurriyat, Qasim said, 8220;These are not absolutely baseless. I don8217;t want to dash all hopes to the ground.8221;Even Advani, during his recent visit to Kashmir, had reiterated his offer of talks for restoration of peace and normalcy in the Valley. Referring to the recent release of various Hurriyat leaders, he said that the 8220;ball is now in their court8221;.
However, Hurriyat leaders describe Advani8217;s statements as attempts to create divisions in the APHC. 8220;Most of our leaders are still in jails. They Centre are not permitting us to meet them,8221; said Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a Hurriyat leader.
Of the seven-member Hurriyat executive, only Sheikh Abdul Aziz is in jail at present. The others include Hurriyat chairperson Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Omar Farooq, Yaseen Malik, Professor Abdul Gani Bhat, Abdul Gani Lone and Moulvi Abbas.
Geelani said that they were ready for any workable solution, including the division of Jammu and Kashmir, provided that the solution emerged as a consensus after tripartite talks between India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. He, however, denied that Hurriyat was in favour of division of the state.
Rashid added that the talks necessarily had to be tripartite. 8220;Bilateral talks between any of the parties are not going to prove fruitful like the past,8221; he stated. 8220;Did the 1952 Delhi agreement, 1971 Indo-Pak Shimla agreement or the 1975 Indira-Sheikh accord solve the Kashmir problem? Since parts of Kashmir are under the occupation of both India and Pakistan, the APHC wants tripartite talks for a peaceful resolution,8221; he said.
Political observers have attributed the shift in the stand of Centre and the Hurriyat to growing international pressure for a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir problem. However, they appeared apprehensive of their success, saying that both the parties were facing their own political compulsions and had no control over the gun-wielding militants in the Valley.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre was not ready to hold talks with Pakistan unless it stopped cross-border terrorism, they pointed out, while the Hurriyat could not afford to sit at the negotiation table without Pakistan8217;s involvement. Moreover, politically, the BJP cannot afford to accept division of the state on religious lines or accept conversion of the Line of Control LoC into a permanent border with Pakistan.
Similarly, the Hurriyat executive has also been facing internal dissensions, with leaders like Yaseen Malik opposing the idea of division of the state. His Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front JKLF has all along been advocating independence after the unification of the Jammu Kashmir State with Pakistan occupied Kashmir PoK.
Both the Centre and the Hurriyat know that restoration of peace in Kashmir is not possible until Pakistan stops aiding and abetting militancy from across the border. However, with more and more foreign militants filtering into the state, Pakistan appears to be in no mood to let up.
