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Opportunity knocks

Talks offer by the All Party Hurriyat Conference and unilateral cease-fire by the Hizbul Mujahideen are good indications for India and we should not miss this golden opportunity. People may say that both, the Hurriyat and Hizbul, have yielded to the pressure of America, who wants India and the Kashmiri militants to negotiate on contentious issues. But the fact remains that if a complicated problem can be resolved even if only under somebody's pressure, it must be resolved. If the US is mounting pressure on both the sides for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir problem, it is a positive development and Indians should welcome it.

I will look at both the developments as a major breakthrough with regard to the Kashmir issue. It may cause some ripples also as far as the equations with the National Democratic Alliance and the National Conference is concerned, but in order to secure bigger achievements, small considerations should be ignored. I do not say that the National Conference or Farooq Abdullah should be isolated. They should be given due importance as Farooq has always been a true nationalist, has stood for the Indian cause on every international forum. Farooq's apprehension maybe genuine too, as in the eventuality of a compromise with the Hurriyat, the National Conference will be the loser. Here, Farooq should also understand that in such a situation those who have got a grip on the masses always get more weightage. Today, somehow the Hurriyat has managed to get sizeable support among the locals.

Not only this, without them the Kashmir problem cannot be resolved and the genocide of Kashmiris, armed forces and militants will continue.

It is a fact that the Hurriyat Conference has been a pro-Pakistan outfit unlike the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front which has been pleading for an independent Kashmir. Recently, I met JKLF chief Amanullah Khan in Islamabad and his argument was that Kashmir should neither go to Pakistan nor to India. It should be given to the local people for 15 years and if they are not able to run it properly then there should be plebiscite to determine whether it should go with India or Pakistan.

Amanullah was peeved at the fact that Pakistanis were the first to reject his proposal. Which means Pakistan is not at all interested in the liberation of Kashmiris, but its motive is to occupy entire Kashmir and then to run it like any other province of Pakistan. I was told in Pakistan that people from Baluchistan and from the North West Frontier Province are not interested in the Kashmir problem. In fact, according to them, the fight for Kashmir is an obsession with the Punjabis in Pakistan. It has got nothing to do with Baluchistanis and others.

What I am trying to say is that the Hurriyat might have a soft corner for Pakistan, but today, it has become a force to reckon with in the Valley and in order to arrive at a solution to the Kashmir problem, they have to be roped into the dialogue process. At the same time the Government of India should take Farooq Abdullah into confidence and he should be given full importance in the whole process. The central government should safeguard Abdullah's and his party's interests in the whole exercise. Their contribution cannot and should not be ignored.

It was obvious from the day when the Hurriyat leaders were freed from jail that the Government of India is heading for a major breakthrough. Now things are very much on the surface and it will be in the Indian interests that a formal dialogue is initiated as quickly as possible. The government should come forward with an elaborate response to the cease-fire call given by the Hizbul Mujahideen.

There are no two ways about the fact that Pakistan will never let these talks be successful. It will always dissuade the Hurriyat and Hizbul to go in for serious talks. It has already provoked the Lashkar-e-Toiba to oppose the Hizbul's cease-fire and to continue with violence. Pakistan would like the façade of a talk process to be created and will try to sabotage the whole purpose of bringing peace into the valley. It is sitting like a greedy wolf who wants to grab the cake in the form of Kashmir.

Our job is to negate the moves and motives of Pakistan and to cultivate the Hurriyat and the Hizbul to agree to a sane solution. It will be a big victory for India and it should be handled in such a sophisticated manner that the opportunity is not missed.

Rajiv Shukla