Anil Anand
The anatomy of All Party Delegations, in the context of Kashmir, and a screaming headline in a regional daily ‘Hours for Hurriyat and minutes for Jammu’ are the two variants through which the efficacy or not of the Centre’s recent initiative to break logjam in the Valley could be gauged. This is not the time to dig deep into history unearthing the root cause of Kashmir problem spread over centuries as many experts are seeking to do but time to find solution in the face of current realities and follies committed in the recent past.
In this context the two variants as mentioned need a detailed look. The All Party Delegation syndrome has lost its sheen in the eyes of people of the state more so Kashmir. The simplistic reason behind this scepticism is that the APDs, as in the past, have turned out to be an exercise in futility. People perceived it to be a jamboree as plane load of MPs land in the Valley, follow a text book script and return with no tangibles having emerged till date even if they had made certain recommendations.
Jammu and Kashmir has seen a long history of APDs and sundry Commissions, some high powered, visiting the state suggesting measures which all through remained unimplemented. It always happened with perfect understanding between the central leadership and those at the helm of Affairs in J&K as patch work and sweeping the issue under the carpet suited everyone. Little did they realise that the festering wound was getting malignant. Everyone knew but vested interest has all along proved to be much stronger to permit any long term remedy.
In the context of the current crisis that has enveloped Kashmir Valley as never before the efficacy of the APD led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh has to be measured on two counts. Firstly, the outcome of similar moves in 1989-90, when the militancy erupted, and 2010. Secondly and more importantly the circumstances under which the 2016 initiative took place after much dilly-dallying and causing immense loss, under different kind of dispensations in place both at the Centre and in the state.
There is hardly any need to recount that the outcome of earlier two APD visits was never either visible or allowed to percolate down to the ground. It was mostly on account of lack of will and tendency of the Central leadership from time to time to succumb to the local leaders’ pressure with a limited goal of clinging to the power not caring for the long term collateral damage.
Most of the times, constituting and despatching APDs to Kashmir had been a hasty decision which has been lacking vision and planning. As a result the delegation lands in the midst of curfew and MPs or the political leaders move under heavy security cover to feel pulse of the people. Those who come to meet them are brought under similar heavy security cover with little scope for either freely airing genuine grievances or a heart-to-heart talk.
It looks and sounds dichotomous.
The 2016 APD initiative has so far followed the same pattern. Firstly, it was a much delayed effort made under duress and in very difficult circumstances. It had once again become a necessary evil but should not have taken place without proper planning and more back channel efforts to give exercise some semblance of success. Whether to meet and bring separatists on board, could have been a different debate altogether but the manner in which some MPs went knocking at the doors of separatist leaders only to be shunned speaks volumes about the effort and intent behind the exercise. Only naive would agree that the MPs took this initiative on their own. What if the separatists had agreed to meet them and pave way for further dialogue? Certainly the attempt would have come out of the private affair domain of the MPs with Centre and the state Governments becoming key players.
The separatists slamming their doors on the MPs, has been given a new dimension of a lost opportunity with onus on the former grouping. It would have been in the fitness of things had they agreed to interact in broader public interest despite adverse circumstances. But by strange logic their refusal is sought to be linked with the security cover and other official expenditures being incurred on them. At least the media reports suggest so.
Nothing is static in the world and certainly not the status of the separatist leaders in the national scheme of things. There is a dire need for a total review of the mechanism under which they had been dealt with over the years and determine their real efficacy on ground. But a knee-jerk reaction to create a bogey would cause more harm and in term make these leaders relevant in the local context.
The headline ‘Hours for Hurriyat and minutes for Jammu’ strongly convey another dichotomy in the planning of APD-2016. The itinerary brought the delegation to Jammu on the second leg of their tour. Many experts and news anchors questioned the move on the premise that the trouble spot was in the Valley and that by doing so the BJP-led Centre Government had only tried to address its constituency in Jammu.
There is an iota of truth about the BJP’s real intent behind delegation landing at Jammu for few hours. Given the strong fault-lines between Jammu and Kashmir regions and of course Ladakh, it was a wise move to bring the delegation to winter capital of the state. But doing so without an agenda caused more harm to the BJP’s interests than doing any good which was testified by the headlines.
The sole agenda of the Centre’s initiative should have been bringing normalcy in Kashmir and the Jammu visit should also been rooted in the same spirit. Taking Jammu on board for initiating peace efforts in the Valley would have empowered BJP and provide ease of doing business to their alliance Governments at the Centre and in the State. Unfortunately an impression gathered that the visit was meant to listen to Jammu’s grievances.
So the screaming headlines.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel