Vijay Hashia
Too much credence to the meeting between Sartaj Aziz, special envoy of Pak PM with the separatist in New Delhi, is to keep the cauldron boiling. It looks, the separatists are contagious of meeting Pak PMs and diplomats fanning barbs and so are cons of Pak diplomats. The meeting with Sartaj Aziz this time is not first of its kind. There have been several in the past with the Pak officials. A delegation under the banner of Hurriyat Conference, on 17 Dec 2012 met ISI Chief Lt Gen Zahir Ul Islam, had detailed interaction at National Defence University and in Pakistan Institute of Strategic Studies. Even, Yaseen Malik shared dais with Saeed Hafiz and Sayeed Salahuddin, the most dreaded terrorists of the sub continent.
The duo reportedly had disapproved any dialogue within CBMs with the Indian government and advised separatists to wait till 2014 when the US withdraws its troops from Afghanistan and the surge of militants towards Kashmir restarts. Earlier, on Nov 14, 2006 at Foreign Secretary level talks in New Delhi, Syed Ali Shah Geelani after having met with President Pervez Musharraf in April 2005, had a meeting with the senior Pak official Riaz Mohd Khan, the then foreign Secretary but Geelani reportedly, was given scant attention in this unscheduled maiden meeting. In both these meetings, Geelani had been persuading Pak officials for his inclusion in the talks with India. The other Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF Chief Yaseen Malik and Shabir Shah were treated in the same manner. However, in the recent meeting with Sartaj Aziz, the outfit Dukhtaraan-e-Milat, the banned terrorist organization to meet Pak officials in New Delhi for the first time, has urged government of Pakistan to freeze CBMs. Such a seditious behavior advocates stalemate of peaceful talks and war on India.
What do separatists aim at in these meetings? As they have several times in the past either sent delegates for talks or personally met them to express their points of view clandestinely, these meetings are circuitous of fanning discord but not aimed to solve the tangle while on the other hand, Pakistan is urged to keep them engaged. Instead of acting a bridge to reduce the tension, they have been adding fuel to the fire which is evident from the Geelani’s recent statement that only guns and stone pelting could solve the Kashmir issue. These kinds of aggressive statements are looked as puerile and derisive. Look at Yasin Malik, how daringly he manipulates statements on the national TV channels with no apprehension of violating the law of land. Though, they have no locus standi to represent Kashmiris, their claims only support rival’s proclivity and make India bear the brunt of aggression. Aren’t such activities tantamount to treason threatening to emasculate the very substance of democracy? The nuance of these meetings is irrational and impasse to ongoing peaceful talks between the two countries. Pakistan on the other hand, might be weary of these elements doubting Indians using them as agents that may turn coat any moment for any kind of largesse. Same is viewed by the Indian side, as political calculations of some bygone politicians have not been awry.
Well, as critics goes that allowing them to meet with Sartaj Aziz is yet another diplomatic blunder, let us historically look at it. In April 1964, Nehru had requested Sheikh to act as a bridge between India, Pakistan and make President Ayub Khan to agree to come to New Delhi for talks for a final solution of the Kashmir problem. Ayub Khan also sent telegrams to Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah with the message that as Pakistan too was a party to the dispute, any resolution of the conflict without its participation would not be acceptable to Pakistan. This paved way for Sheikh to visit Pakistan to grind his own axe like separatists do.
Sheikh went to Pakistan during Apr 1964 where he hob nobbed with Ayub Khan to explore various avenues for solving the Kashmir problem and he agreed to come to Delhi in mid June for talks with Nehru as suggested by him but Nehru’s sudden death on 27 May scuttled the talks. Sheikh after addressing a public rally at Muzaffarabad had to return to Delhi. On his suggestion, Ayub Khan sent a high level Pak delegation led by his Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto along with him to take part in the last rites of Nehru. After Nehru’s death in 1964, Sheikh spewed venom by his rhetoric speeches. He was interned from 1965 to 1968 and exiled from Kashmir for 18 months in 1971. The plebiscite front was also banned. This was to prevent the front from taking part in the election process.
Since then, Kashmir politics has undergone degenerative metamorphosis. Though Gandhi -Sheikh legacy continues post Nehru -Sheikh era, scattered hard core fundamentalists, have united to collective tirade. The unison was perpetuated by the ruling party during 1980s and hob knobbing of Jamat and separatist elements with their counterparts across the border. Two and a half decades political turmoil has given rise to blunt refusal, rejection and boycott calls but the voters have twice rebuffed separatist’s claims. Their claims as representatives of people are bemused, for it is felt, they have nexus from the behemoth unorganized Pak military establishment. However, the present dispensation of Hurriyat is not a plebiscite front; it has neither been banned nor prevented from taking part in the election process.
With the coalition forces set to withdraw from Afghanistan next year, the Taliban is expected to make strategic gains in that strife torn nation. Hafiz Saeed and Sayeed Salahuddin think that with the US withdrawing, the militants would be in a position to command Kashmir after 2014. In this milieu, moderate Hurriyat leaders might be feeling insecure for a common Kashmiri who would get sandwiched between the Indian security forces and the militants. While moderates might be fretting out & pleading to get out of this quagmire, the hard cores might be advocating direct aggressive action similar to the liberation of East Bengal but for Pakistan, would like to keep these elements engaged to boiling point.
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