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| Stage not yet set for "quiet diplomacy"to take off | | |
EarlyTimes Report
Jammu,December 24 :-Where has "quiet diplomacy" gone? Has there been any progress in the proposed parleys between New Delhi and the Kashmiri separatists ?These questions have assumed added interest following reports that the "quiet diplomacy"is yet to take off.When the Union Home Minister,P.C.Chidambaram,announced two months ago that the Government of India was ready to talk to all political parties including those that are on the other side of the mainstream political spectrum the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir was gripped by fresh interest and curiosity over the course these talks will adopt.And the separatists,except for the hardliners,responded positively to the centre's offer for reopening the channels of dialogue.
In fact it was first the Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh,who talked about his willingness to reopen the channels of dialogue with different shades of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir.At that stage also both the mainstream politicians and those belonging to the moderate separatist camp had welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement.And Chidambaram's subsequent statements including the one in which he said that the proposed talks would be held beyond the glare of the media,had reflected the union Government's seriousness on the issue.And when reports went round that Molvi Umar Farooq,Chairman All Party Hurriyat Conference,had a secret session with Chidambaram in New Delhi an impression went round that the stage has been set for the centre-separatists talks.
As the expectations kept on rising the armed attack on senior APHC leader,Fazal Ul Haq Qureshi in Srinagar dampened the interests in the proposed talks.However,soon after his recovery both Qureshi and Molvi Umar Farooq announced that the attack will have no impact on the dialogue.It was believed that the centre-Hurriyat talks could take place anytime during the month of December.But so far there is nothing in view except meaningful silence.
Reports from the APHC camp indicated that the Hurriyat Conference leadership could not come forward because of infighting within the conglomerate.The first banner of revolt within the APHC was raised by the Chief of Democratic Freedom Party,Shabir Ahmed Shah.Shah conveyed to the Hurriyat leaders that he was opposed to bilateral talks but was in favour of triangular parleys.He had told me that bilateral talks in the past had failed to settle the Kashmir issue and hence he wanted the dialogue be held between India and Pakistan in which separatists and representatives of people of Jammu and Kashmir were involved.
Another factor,besides the attack on Qureshi,is said to have forced the APHC leadership to develop cold feet was the stiff opposition to the proposed dialogue by the hardliners headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.Geelani wanted people of Jammu and Kashmir to get the right of self-determination because he has been harping on Kashmir's incorporation with Pakistan.
Well while the separatists were grappling with their problems the centre too showed no intense desire to start the dialogue as early as possible.Certain national and international developments,besides the activities of the Naxals in some states,kept the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister awfully busy.For Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram Kashmir had not been as important as that of the north east or that of the border trouble being kicked up by China and the political and security instability in Pakistan following hike in terrorist strikes and by the Supreme court's verdict on scrapping of the National Reconciliation Ordinance.A situation seems to have arisen in whih one finds neither the centre nor the separatists in a hurry to restart the process of dialogue.Political analysts are of the opinion that the centre should have facilitated the dialogue to take off which could keep at least one section of the separatists busy.(eom)
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