Valley groups say talks sans Hurriyat futile; Jammu voices predict failure
The Centre’s decision to send an all-party delegation to Kashmir to hold dialogue with all stakeholders for defusing the turmoil has divergence in views of civil society groups of Jammu region and Kashmir valley.
While Jammu groups dismiss the the step as another ‘ritual as usual’ performed by the Centre ignoring the ground reality and actual stakeholders, Kashmir-based groups term it as a futile exercise if Hurriyat is not taken on board.
“The Government of India has to shun its denial mode in taking Hurriyat on board for talks. It has to move ahead of conditionality and accept the Hurriyat to make dialogue meaningful and help restore normalcy,” said Shaqeel Qalannder, president of the Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS).
He added that before coming to Kashmir, the all-party delegation would have to do homework in advance.
“After Burhan Wani’s death, there was an assumption that the youth on the street lost their goal and went wild. The youth in the Valley have the same agenda as the Hurriyat and they are always on the same page,” he said.
The KCSDS referred to the 2010 unrest, which ended only through dialogue by an all-party delegation and interlocutors talking to the Hurriyat and other stakeholders in the Valley.
It said until the Government of India shunned its ‘hardcore’ stand of confining talks to its set guidelines, it would not succeed in breaking the ice.
MM Khajooria, former Deputy General of Police, giving voice to Jammu, said the Valley turmoil was not a spontaneous movement, but a well-planned programme and the Government of India fell prey to it.
“There is a movement for radicalisation of Islamic society. The Hurriyat is being dictated by foreign players, including Pakistan, and children on the streets are being used as a weapon of revenge against the Indian establishment,” he said.
He outrightly dismissed the Government of India’s idea of sending an all-party delegation or interlocutors to Kashmir for peaceful settlement as a ‘futile exercise’ done by past regimes as well.
“In 2010, the all-party delegation, followed by interlocutors, came and took a holistic view of all concerned about the issue. What more is left to be dug out?” he said.
He said the government seemed to be deliberately in denial mode to understand variegated problems of all three regions and was focusing on Kashmir, which would yield no result.
