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| Separatists may intensify activities after polls | | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
JAMMU, MAY 12: Indications are that the separatists may not suspend their activities after the end of the Lok Sabha elections. They have earned a lot of publicity from their anti-Assembly poll and the Lok Sabha election since October last when the schedule for the poll process started being announced. A section of people supported their "planned marches" from one end of Srinagar to the other. Strict measures taken by the Government agencies, during the Governor's rule between July and December, foiled the separatist plan of wrecking the election process and set the entire Kashmir on fire. They may not have succeeded in their plan but they demonstrated their capacity for registering their presence. When the Lok Sabha poll schedule was announced the hardliners among the separatists, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, gave a call to people to boycott the election. The moderates led by Molvi Umar Farooq distanced themselves from the hardliners and said they were not giving any call for poll boycott. Leaders of APHC were hard telling that since elections were non-issue for them there was no need for giving a call for poll boycott. They seemed to be wiser enough because their experience during the Assembly poll had been frustrating when people, rather voters, did not respond to their call for boycott.
Later the moderates too supported the call for boycott. They did so after militant groups, especially those belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen, mounted pressure on them. People were also surprised over the attitude of the moderates. Fearing that they may get isolated the APHC leaders had no other alternative but to give a call for poll boycott. As a result of their experience during the last 15 years the separatists have come to the conclusion that unless they keep alive their mischief potential they may not be heard by men who matter in Delhi and Islamabad. They have also learnt that they have to keep their shops open if they have to secure their political survival.
Reports indicate that after the elections the executive committees of the rival factions of the Hurriyat Conference will have separate meetings in Srinagar for finalising their next programme which could help them to demonstrate their strength. According to these reports, moderates are keen to see that the talks between them and Delhi, which have remained suspended for over three years, were resumed. It is in this connection the moderates and the hardliners may hold demonstrations and organise r allies which could affect the tourist and pilgrim traffic to Kashmir. Since the annual Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to begin from the middle of next month it is not yet known what stand the separatists and the PDP will take. The PDP leadership has been in favour of a month long, instead of two-month long yatra period because longer yatra period would bring security forces under stress and strain. The separatists may not oppose the yatra but would keep the cauldron of vilence boiling so that they were involved in the dialogue for the settlement of the Kashmir issue. Their success and failure in enlisting peoples support to their politics of agitation would depend on the performance of the NC-Congress coalition Government. If the ruling coalition initiated measures for resolving the problem of unemployment and improved the supply of electricity and drinking water and kept its budget proposals tax free it could blunt the offensive that the separatists plan to launch. The nature of their offensive will be determined by the attitude of Islamabad. If Islamabad stopped providing material and moral assistance to the separatists and militants Kashmir could be spared of violence.
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