Talking to the enemy

The announcement of the ceasefire since the beginning of Ramzan has been by far the boldest step taken by the Vajpayee government towards ...

The announcement of the ceasefire since the beginning of Ramzan has been by far the boldest step taken by the Vajpayee government towards resolving the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir. It has transformed the environment in the Valley to the extent that people are now venturing out of their houses until late into the night without fear of being gunned down. The fact that the ceasefire is a boon is now attested to by no less a person than the chief of the army staff, General S. Padmanabhan, who has come out strongly in support of the extension of the ceasefire. In fact, he went ahead and argued that quot;When we weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the ceasefire, the advantages far outweigh the negative aspects of the ceasefire.quot; The scheduled visit by the Hurriyat leaders to Pakistan is perhaps the next important step towards reaching the ultimate goal. But it must be realised that each of these steps, however significant, are merely attempts to create the right atmospherics for the dialogue between the topleadership of the two countries. Only a dialogue between the two countries can lead to a long-term solution in the Valley.

The most important ingredient for a successful dialogue between adversaries is trust between the two sides. Before beginning a dialogue, it is absolutely essential to figure out the sincerity of oneacirc;euro;trade;s adversary. By announcing the ceasefire, and deciding in principle to send the Hurriyat team to Pakistan despite the attack on the Red Fort, the threat to the prime ministeracirc;euro;trade;s office and other violent activities by militant outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-i-Mohammad, the Indian government has shown that it is sincere in resolving the crisis in Kashmir. Now it is time to find out the sincerity of the adversary. New Delhi must figure out to what extent they trust Islamabad, especially Pakistanacirc;euro;trade;s CEO General Pervez Musharraf, as far as the resolution of the Kashmir problem is concerned. Once that is clear, and it is felt that the adversary is sincere, only then, will the time to resume the dialogue arrive. Talking to the enemy is, of course, laced with a certain amount of risk. Most of thesedialogues whether carried out in the Middle East or in Northern Ireland are long and arduous processes. They often get destabilised over ticklish issues or by violent activities of militants, who are clearly the losers whenever there is talk instead of the booming of guns. Moreover, the process of dialogue requires enormous courage, patience and resolve. But, in most cases, dialogue is the only alternative route and the advantages from it, more often than not, outweigh the disadvantages.

At this stage, it is very important that the Hurriyat must go as one voice. In this regard, all efforts to persuade Syed Ali Shah Geelani to go along with the rest of the Hurriyat team to Pakistan are, indeed, commendable. Geelani might be a hawk, given his belief that the issue in Jamp;K is religious not political, but he enjoys enormous credibility with the militants. Other than a close rapport with the Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Geelani also perhaps speaks a language that other jehadi groups speak and might listen to. In the end, however, success in resolving the intractable issue of Kashmir will depend on the extent to which both sides are prepared to sit at the table and talk to each other.