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| Delhi's Pak policy unnerves Kashmir | | | NEW DELHI, JULY 31: While New Delhi is planning to get tough with Islamabad in the wake of the July 11 Mumbai blasts, almost all political parties in Kashmir are showing nerves over the possible consequences of such a course. Even mainstream parties like the National Conference (NC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) believe that the India-Pakistan standoff will further shrink the "political and democratic space" in the state, which, according to them was limping back to normalcy since 2003. "All the gains scored by India after the 2002 assembly elections will be lost if India and Pakistan go back to square one," a mainstream Kashmiri leader said. Kashmiri leaders do not think the decision by Delhi to keep the channels with Kashmiri leaders open and also to keep the Muslim leaders elsewhere in good humour is going to amount to much if India moves to stall the process with Pakistan or begins to put the heat on it. Kashmiris fear a reprisal and an increase in the graph of violence. Their apprehension can be gauged from the fact that soon after India declared that the bonhomie with Pakistan was over, at least for the time being, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Omar Abdullah of the NC and president of the PDP Mehbooba Mufti flew to
Delhi and tried to impress upon Delhi that the consequences of blocking dialogue with Pakistan would be unbearable for Kashmir. "The surge in militancy is itself due to the slow pace of the peace process; if things slow down any further, there will be even greater violence," the Kashmiri leaders said. The Congress party's alliance
partner, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, has also advocated extreme caution vis-à-vis Pakistan. She argues that Delhi must think very deeply before consigning the process to the bin. She has also urged UPA chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi to intervene and salvage the peace process. Mufti has alleged that the government is playing in the hands
of the hardliners.
"A knee-jerk reaction would only help the negative elements whose
vested interests remain under threat by the peace process," former
chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said. Although Chief Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad has publicly toed the line of his Congress party, in
private he has also expressed similar worries. The moderate Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said much the same. He thinks that Delhi's approach plays right into the hands of those who are opposed to the process and has urged that
efforts must be made to foil the plans of elements who want to sabotage the dialogue. "India's decision will provide an opportunity to those who want to derail the process," he said, pointing towards the hardliners, who have been now pressing him to form a joint front with the hard-line faction of Syed Ali Geelani. The Mirwaiz also demanded an impartial probe to unravel the "black faces" of those responsible for such heinous acts.
The Mirwaiz claimed that Mohammad Afzal Rather and another boy who were overpowered by the people while trying to lob a grenade on the tourists and handed over to police were affiliated with pro-government militant outfit Ikhwan. He said the involvement of the Ikhwan in a terrorist act was a serious matter and must be impartially
investigated. With these inputs from Kashmir, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
here has re-framed the response. According to it while there would be no immediate engagement with Pakistan, the government would keep the dialogue channel with the Kashmiri political parties open. The PMO is keen to see the five working groups announced last May during the PM's visit to Srinagar, to start working as soon as possible. The move is meant to de-link Kashmir talks and the related CBMs with Pakistan. Soon after his return from the G-8 meeting, the prime minister finalised the names of the members for the most crucial working group to discuss and renegotiate Kashmir's constitutional relations with Delhi.
Headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice A M Ahmadi, other members of this group are: Abdul Rahim Rather (National Conference), Mehbooba Mufti (Peoples Democratic Party) and Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami (CPI-M), former law minister Arun Jaitley (BJP) and Union Minister Prof Saifuddin Soz to represent the Congress party. There are also chances that Prof Bhim Singh of Panthers Party and some nominee from
Ladakh may also join the group.
Another working group dealing with the CBMs and the rehabilitation of victims of violence also held its first meeting in Srinagar on the direction of the prime minister. The group is headed by Hamid Ansari, chairman National Minority Commission. This group has been asked to evolve measures to improve the condition of the people affected by the
militancy, outline schemes to rehabilitate all orphans and widows and devise an effective rehabilitation policy for surrendered and released militants. It will also look into issues confronting Kashmiri Pandit migrants and facilitate the return of Kashmiri youth from Pakistan.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's assertion that he does not want permanent hostility with Pakistan, while mulling a response to punish that country, has made the job more complex for his officials. While a repeat of Operation Parakaram 2001 is being ruled out, various other steps to put the squeeze on Pakistan are being
debated within the security establishment. At a recent top-level security meeting headed by the prime minister, agencies were asked to weigh the options that could be translated into action. "One component of this is to strike at the roots of terror in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The intention is to target 'religious' bodies promoting jihad against India. But an Israel-type option, now unfolding in Lebanon, is a complete no-no," said an official.
"We know who they are and what they do. If necessary, they can be neutralised. It all depends on whether we are pushed to a point that necessitates such action," said a top official. Officials say Delhi is also looking at sectarian and ethnic fault-lines in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which can be exploited to India's advantage. India is also looking at beefing up the strategic relationship between Indian intelligence agencies and their counterparts in Iran and Afghanistan on the west and Myanmar in the east. Sharing
intelligence and conducting joint operations could help shore up the first line of defence against terrorism in India.
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