Cannot afford to go wrong this time

A small hope is in the air that this time the all-party delegation of parliamentarians will bring some substantive message to enable Kashmir to come out of the current bloodletting crisis. But, there is a severe rider, too, that if it is going to be a repeat of the failed exercise of the past then there may be no early end to the unrest on the streets which flows from homes and mosques.
The scene in Kashmir is gloomy at the moment, with none having any clue about who all are behind the trouble and what would they settle for short of “azadi”, the catchphrase floated by the anti-India elements in the Valley.
However, now there is a universal acknowledgement of the fact that Pakistan has backed the whole trouble in a big way. The trouble had started after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, whose father Muzaffar Wani met with spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bengaluru last week.
It is a blasphemy to say here that “azadi” is not reachable, but people hard-pressed by the gloom in their lives argue that “something should be delivered” by the delegation which is landing here for two days from Sunday.
“We have been adversely affected by the stone-throwers, curfew and the loss of economic activity,” Gulzar, a fruit vendor near Dal gate, told Kashmir Post. “We have pinned our hopes on the delegation, and hope that there is something substantive to lift us out of these unprecedented crisis.”
This trepidation has an explanation because in the past all-party delegations had ended up with zero follow-up action on their recommendations or that of the interlocutors appointed by them.
It is expected that the delegation will throw light on its engagements on Saturday, and it has been made clear to them not to stand on prestige and meet separatists in the form of a delegation and not individuals. Others could be having grievances of economic nature, but the real symbol of the trouble are separatists and those who have decided to keep their businesses shut to give impetus to the cycle of protest calendars and shutdowns, announced by Islamabad through the separatists.
“Do you think the all-party delegation would be able to make any breakthrough. I pray, it should (break the ice) because we cannot allow ourselves to live this condemned life in this Valley-wide prison, where pre-teen groups insult and humiliate elders and children have taken to the streets,” said Nazir Ahmad, a businessman. “It is not necessary that we explain our pain by meeting the delegation, it should understand our pain when they (delegation members) move around,” he said.
“They must visit or talk to separatists,” he insisted. Although many believe that the separatists don’t hold the key this time for different kinds of complexities are involved now, but they only are symbolism of what they call “resistance”.
The general mood here is that this is not the time to commit any error. If things are taken as usual then it might turn out to be a historic error.