An initiative at the highest political level to hold a dialogue with separatists in Kashmir will start within the next three months. This was revealed by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in an exclusive interview with The Indian Express. The Mufti said his government was very clear on the issue of a dialogue. ‘‘It’s a fundamental question. Only a dialogue can lead to an end to our problems and we cannot afford to delay it,’’ he said. ‘‘The process has to start at the proper time, otherwise we will lose the tempo,’’ he said. ‘‘The Centre too has shown its commitment to a dialogue process as was promised by Prime Minister Vajpayee before the elections. Now the Deputy Prime Minister too has aired similar views.’’ Mufti said this time the dialogue will be held at the highest level on the government side. ‘‘We will ensure that this process is credible and I assure you, it will take place at the highest political level,’’ he said. ‘‘It will be different from all such earlier efforts and now all depends on the Hurriyat. They should grab this opportunity. Then all other modalities can be worked out.’’ He said a house committee representing all political parties would be soon formed to discuss the modalities. ‘‘These elections have an added credibility internationally and when the elected House seeks a dialogue at the highest political level, I don’t think the Centre will deny it. Then there are no disagreements on the issue of initiating a dialogue with the separatists at all.’’ Asked whether the BJP-led Central Government would be able to commit itself to such a process in Kashmir, especially in view of the forthcomming assembly polls in several states across the country, Mufti said ‘‘the process will be initiated much before that. It will be very soon. It will be within the next three months.’’ The Chief Minister said his Government was elated with the results of the ‘‘healing touch’’ policy. ‘‘We are here just for two months and you can see the positive change on the ground. Our own policemen who would earlier appear brutal are behaving with people in such a good way. During Ramazan, they were offering dates to villagers to break their fast. Was it possible earlier,’’ he said. ‘‘We will go to any extent to ensure that the measures of ‘‘healing touch’’ actually trickle down to the grassroots. It is working. If you use force and suppress people, it will have more reaction.’’ He said the success of the ‘‘healing touch’’ policy has even travelled across to Pakistan. Referring to Pak foreign minister K A Kasuri’s recent statement, giving legitimacy to the Mufti government, which is seen as a major departure from Pakistan’s traditional Kashmir policy, Mufti said that ‘‘even they (Pakistan) have started realising that the situation is fast changing here’’. Mufti said the ‘‘healing touch’’ policy even helps the Hurriyat to join the dialogue process. ‘‘We are actually making the atmosphere conducive for them as well. If killings and atrocities would have continued and this would have been on Pakistan television everyday, it would have made it difficult for them to justify joining the dialogue process.’’ Mufti is also hopeful that the coming months will witness a sharp decline in militant violence here. ‘‘The democratic process is the only remedy. Once we get people involved in the process, militancy will automatically lose ground and we are doing exactly the same,’’ he said. ‘‘We are determined to root out the grievances which prompt people to join militancy.’’ He said his government would soon take a policy decision to tackle the issue of people missing in police and security force custody. ‘‘We have decided to launch a telephone helpline in both Srinagar and Jammu where we will have representatives from police as well to ensure that the whereabouts of those arrested are known to their families within 24 hours,’’ he said. ‘‘We are also committed to probe the earlier cases. In fact, we will use the help of the state’s own intelligence agency to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing people,’’ he said. Mufti said his government has a three-pronged strategy to deal with the state’s problems. ‘‘We are very clear about the initiation of a dialogue process. Then we are committed to good governance — absolutely free from corruption. Besides, we have a plan for socio-economic development as well,’’ he said.
