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| Mirwaiz on legitimacy tour | | | ZAFAR CHOUDHARY
Jammu, Nov 13: In an obvious attempt to seek legitimacy of position to get engaged in dialogue with New Delhi, the chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference has embarked on an extended tour of the Muslim majority areas of Jammu region.
Mirwaiz has launched this mass contact programme following Government of India’s exercise of launching internal dialogue for the resolution of Kashmir issues. Earlier last month the Home Minister P Chidrambram has talked about the now much discussed quiet diplomacy with different shades of opinion and later the Prime Minister during his Kashmir visit invited the separatists to join the dialogue but with a condition that they should come up with meaningful ideas.
As observers believe that this current round of dialogue is one of the most serious well studied exercise launched by the Government of India on Kashmir, there is a clear question of legitimacy as ‘who represent whom’. The Hurriyat leaders who had several rounds of dialogue with New Delhi in the past decade had always been subject to this question.
Interestingly, the Hurriyat leaders, particularly the Mirwaiz Omar Farooq faction touch down on Jammu region only when they see that the dialogue is taking a serious turn and they have to convince either New Delhi or Islamabad that they represent “aspirations of the majority in entire state”. There has, however, always been a big no from the separatists to answer this question to electoral tests.
The last time when Mirwaiz visited Jammu region was January 2007 while on way to Islamabad. He had then met some members of the civil society and addressed a seminar organized by a Kashmiri Pandit organisation.
On the first leg of his tour to Jammu region, the Mirwaiz is in the Chenab Valley region. Addressing some gatherings in Doda and Kishtwar, the Mirwaiz is reported to have said,
“we want issue-based discussions on Kashmir and are ready to play our role to find the solution to the Kashmir crisis through triangular talks -- between Kashmir and India, India and Pakistan and Kashmir and Pakistan”
In reference to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's recent statement that a solution to the Kashmir problem should be sought through 'quiet diplomacy', Mirwaiz said that he was ready to go in for discussions on the issue 'whether through open or quiet diplomacy'. He said that the Hurriyat Conference was not against the Indian government but 'against its policies'.
Talking about the Hurriyat movement, he said: 'It was an all-inclusive movement... neither does it belong to a particular region or religion.' 'My mission is to take everyone along, from all regions, sub regions, ethnicities and religions,' he added.
The Mirwaiz said India needs to create an atmosphere for talks by 'demilitarization of the state and repealing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the area'.
He added that if the Indian government felt that situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved, then 'there should not be any problem in initiating these steps'.
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