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| It is hope versus fears over Delhi-separatist talks | | (Behind the veil) | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 5: It is hope versus fear in Jammu and Kashmir.Hope for some breakthrough in the upcoming talks between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan.Fears over the possibility of upward swing in the level of militancy related violence. Hope over the possibility of Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh,dishing out a formal invitation to the Kashmiri separatists for a fresh dialogue.Scare over the probability of the Prime Minister appointing interlocuters for holding talks with the separatists.Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah,has already dropped a hint that Prime Minister may favour separatists to hold talks with the interlocuters.
Well the biggest separatist conglomerate,the All Party Hurriyat Conference,has been opposed to holding talks with interlocuters,appointed by the Government of India,who could essentially be bureaucrats. The APHC leadership favours talks with the "top and the mighty" in the centre who can take decisions.A senior APHC leader,Prof.Abdul Gani Bhat says "even if S.M.Krishna and Shah Memhood Qureshi meet in Islamabad on July 15 and whatever decision the two sides take has to be approved by the two Prime Ministers."He adds"if we hold talks with the Government of India appointed interlocuters it will not solve our purpose because we want to hold discussion and debate with the man or men who have the powers and the authority to take some important decision."
It is out of this perception that the APHC leaders refused to meet K.C.Pant,who had been appointed Chief Interlocuter on Kashmir by the Government of India in 2001.And when Pant found that the APHC leaders were not ready to meet him he had stated that the "hurriyat leaders will be held responsible by the people for adopting obscrutionist attitude in the peace process." The centre had accepted the suggestion of the PDP leadership and replaced Pant by N.N.Vohra as Chief negotiator on Kashmir.The APHC leaders again refused to have a dialogue with Vohra.However,Vohra,before he quit as negotiator in 2008 after being appointed as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir,had succeeded in developing links with some separatists individually.
While there is hope that Krishna -Qureshi talks may set the stage for sustained and meaningful dialogue there are fears that the dialogue may not move forward if Islamabad continued to insist on discussing only Kashmir and water.There is hope that Delhi may again try to involve the separatists in talks which could keep the pro-dialogue groups engaged in some purposeful discourse.There are fears over the possibility of the separatists adopting tough postures if Manmohan Singh favoured talks between the separatists and the interlocuters.
There are hopes that if not anything else Krishna-Qureshi dialogue could dilute or reduce the level of tension and conflict between the two sides.At the sametime there are fears that agencies across the LOC,totally opposed to India-Pakistan talks,may kick up some border row or assist militants in sneaking into Jammu and Kashmir which may force Delhi to abandon or suspend the process of dialogue.Such tactics these agencies have adopted whenever the two sides pledged to reduce the level of conflict and distrust.
The only hope for Krishna-Qureshi talks to move forward is the way the US Government has mounted pressure on both Delhi and Islamabad to resolve bilateral problems through negotiations.The American Government has even suggested to Islamabad to keep the Kashmir issue under the carpet and settle other disputes which could help the two sides to come closer.
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