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| J&K DIALOGUE | | Five ideas New Delhi can give wings | |
Nirbhay Jammual
If India finds it difficult to find a solution to the Kashmir issue it can seek guidance from five solutions that are now available. The latest being the autonomy document, which the Awami National Conference, now headed by Khalida Shah, wife of late GM Shah, claims had been prepared in 1981 when Sheikh Abdullah was alive and headed the Government in the state. Shah's document lays emphasis on intra-Kashmir dialogue in which leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and India remained engaged for finding out a solution to the Kashmir issue. In fact before his demise GM Shah had attempted at holding the intra-Kashmir dialogue in Srinagar. On one occasion elaborate arrangements were finalised for the conference for which invitation letters had been sent to leaders, who matter, in Pakistan, Pakistan occupied Kashmir, India and Jammu and Kashmir. The intra-Kashmir dialogue failed to click when many leaders from across the country did not respond and those who responded were not given the visa. He tried again but failed in his mission. Even over six months ago his son, Muzaffar Shah, had revived the plan of holding an intra-Kashmir conference. He too had not succeeded. Well even if the Awami National Conference failed to achieve its goal the autonomy document is there for Delhi to take cognizance of if it wished so.
The National Conference has already adopted a resolution in the state legislature in 1999 on greater autonomy which it finds as the key to the resolution of Kashmir. So far Delhi has not responded favourably to the resolution. Still the document is with the Government of India. The PDP has gone a step ahead of National Conference by releasing its document on self-rule which it finds is an improvement on NC's greater autonomy resolution. The PDP leadership believes, that too rightly, while the NC's greater autonomy addresses only the internal dimension of the Kashmir issue the self-rule idea addresses both the internal and the external dimensions of the problem.
Four years ago the Peoples Conference. led by Sajjad Lone, drafted his vision document which contains several solutions to the Kashmir issue. He too has stressed the importance of dialogue between Delhi and Islamabd via occupied Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir.The fifth model has been presented by former Pakistan President, General Parvez Musharraf who dished out a four-point proposal.Some of the points in his four-point proposal are echoed in the PDP's self-rule concept. This includes demilitarisation, open border and joint management. If there is one common factor between NC's greater autonomy document and the PDP's self-rule concept it is their emphasis on the repeal of central laws applied to Jammu and Kashmir and their favour for elected Governor. If all the five proposals are read between the lines one would come to the conclusion that these documents favour dilution of the Indian control of Jammu and Kashmir. They favour internal autonomy and not greater integration.
What can be Delhi's stand on these documents?.So far it has rejected both NC's resolution and Musharrafr's four-point proposal. It has not taken cognisance of Lone's vision document and is yet to make known its mind on self-rule idea of the PDP which now plans to table the document in the Assembly. In the light of roar,at times strong and on other occasion feeble, against delay in the settlement of the Kashmir issue Delhi may not afford to adopt a passive attitude towards these five documents. What then should it do ?It may sound ridiculous but it can be viewed as pragmatic if Delhi work on evolving an amalgam of all the five ideas. Yes, it can mix various clauses and paragraphs of each document for preparing a "Kichrri", a sort of a Biryani, which could satisfy the authors of these five documents. It may satisfy many and displease a bigger number of people. But Delhi should know that it is not in its hand to please all while settling a ticklish issue like Kashmir.
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