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| Hardliners in J&K are active as ever | | Pakistan fails to re-unite Hurriyat factions | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, May 2
Behind-the-scene efforts by Pakistan to bring about a rapprochement between the two factions of All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in Kashmir have failed. The grand old man, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is heading the hardline faction of the APHC has proved to be a hard nut to crack. And the moderates led by Maulvi Umar Farooq have demonstrated their unwillingness to follow Geelani's agenda, whichdoes not want cessation of anti-India hatred and violence.
Pakistan is a party to Kashmir issue. And Pakistan has, more often than not, demonstrated its interest and involvement in the internal affairs of Jammu and Kashmir. The role, open and secret, of Pakistan has had the backing, overt and covert, of a section of the populace in Kashmir. And Islamabad has, on several occasions, talked of the the APHC as the "representative of the Kashmiri people".
It is in this context that Pakistan has been found quite interested in a reconciliation between the two factions of the Hurriyat Conference. Syed Ali Shah Geelani may have ceased to be in great demand in the presednt ruling establishment in Islamabad. But the fact remains that in spite of weak health condition, Geelani continues to be a force to reckon with. If he were a spent force, as claimed by some of his critics, then the moderates in the Hurriyat Conference would not have come across any impediments in calling the shots on the political scene in the restive Valley of Kashmir.
Geelani is an angry man. The reason: Both IOslamabad and New Delhi have for obvious strategic and political reasons chosen to attach importance to the moderates among the Hurriyat leaders in Kashmir after they demonstrated a measure of flexibility on two important issues.
First, of course, was the resumption of bus service on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. Second issue related to the ongoing peace process launched by India and Pakistan. Moderates among the Hurriyat leaders do have reservations on India's performance in Kashmir, but they have defied the standpoint of Geelani on these two issues.
Moderate Hurriyat leaders led by Maulvi Umar Farooq have stated, on more than one occasion, that while the peace process would eventually benefit the people of Kashmir, the humanitarian aspect of the cross border bus required to be highlighted in the event of any discussion or debate on the merits and demerits of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service. In the changed scenario, moderate Hurriyat leaders seem interested in building bridges with New Delhi. The hardliners on the other hand have repeatedly cautioned Islamabad against lowering active support to "Kashmir's freedom struggle".
The J&K-based Muslim radicals and hardliners want the continuance of stir against what they term as "Hindu India". On the other hand, however, Pakistan President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, needs peace with India not only to fight jihadi elements in his own country but also to put in place his own ambitious agenda for his country. Unnecessary noises on either side of the border over Kashmir, particularly by Syed Salahuddin, supremo of the dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen, and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, or making the issue as the only item on the Pak agenda, can prove counter productive.
Significantly, Gen. Musharraf has chown not to uphold Kashmiri hardline secesionists' religion-based formula vis-a-vis final settlement of the Kashmir issue. Pakistan President has already coneded that given the secular credentials of India and its sensitivities, there could be no solution to Kashmir on religious lines. A solution, according to him, will have to be on a "people's basis, regional basis".
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