After the much-publicised Akhil Bharatiya Prant Parcharak (ABPP) conclave in Jammu, a top leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has conducted a four-day tour of the Kashmir valley as part of the back-channel diplomacy efforts.
RSS bigwig Indresh Kumar met representatives of different political and social groups to explore possibilities of convincing some leaders having clout among the masses to publicly denounce violence and terrorism to isolate supporters of separatism and violence.
When contacted, Indresh Kumar, one of the members of the RSS core group and convener of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), confirmed his visit to the Valley. “Yes, I visited Kashmir for four days and met a cross-section of people,” he said while refusing to name leaders whom he met during his stay in the Valley.
As the head of the MRM, Indresh Kumar regularly visits the Valley and holds interaction with people, including some separatist leaders also.
“Many people came to meet me during my stay and discussed prevailing situation in the state in general and Valley in particular,” he said, adding that the situation was changing in Kashmir.
“People are fed up with violence and they are disobeying strike calendars being issued by the separatist leadership from time to time,” he said.
After the RSS’ apex body meeting ended on July 20, Indresh Kumar went to Kashmir on the next day and returned on July 27.
Highly placed sources said the Sangh leadership was trying to send a signal to the leaders of Kashmir — both mainstream and separatists — that the Centre would not initiate dialogue process with anyone who supports violence or bloodshed. “The Sangh has given a signal to the separatist leadership that without denouncing violence, the dialogue would be impossible,” a source said.
RSS tries back-channel diplomacy in Kashmir
