The onus from beginning was on the central government as it had the discretion to open up channels for talks which the leaders of present political dispensation had promised before entering the alliance with PDP to govern the state. The time that had been wasted from 8th July, the catastrophic results in terms of lives lost and people injured, and the hard gestures are mainly for people and separatists to show their back to the delegation as separatists declared that they will not the delegation.
If New Delhi, educates the Indian public In advance that Kashmir is a disputed territory pending settlement they may not have to face plebiscite demands in other part of the country. On the contrary their people will give them mandate to resolve Kashmir tangle. For now they don’t have any mandate to take momentous decision on Kashmir.
Delegation has said that separatists don’t snub us, but in their own heart they might be able to think where and what went wrong with the people of Kashmir. If the delegation really wants to know what the people of Kashmir want, they must stress on holding referendum to make the subaltern speak for themselves because it is the not humanly possible to talk to roughly 13 million people. If government of India denies separatists representative character, then it must listen to every voice through the prism referendum.
Indian engagement with the people of Kashmir has been, only through state violence perpetrated through these armed forces that have killed lakhs and brutalized the whole population. Unfortunately, Indian occupation forces in Jammu and Kashmir have a fig-leaf available in the shape of a quisling government fronted by her with the only brief to provide a civilian mask to a brutal military occupation. Despite killings and injuries of war-proportions she continues to perform shamelessly this role of obfuscation.
It needs a congenial atmosphere, not for to open windows but doors willingly, with honour and dignity from both sides, to sit on tables to discuss the issue without any conditions from both sides, not within the framework of Constitution. The delegation is facing resistance now and for valid reasons, if asked to the Indian government, where is the last report of 2010, that interlocutors submitted to you, has that been read before the Parliament, has any action be taken on that. Now the question is?
They have caged, all resistance leadership, with whom they want to talk, isn’t it ridiculous that on the one hand they want to end the deadlock over the prevailing issue and on the other hand they are adamant to suppress the aspirations of the people with their repressive and arbitrary measures. Can’t it be said, it is a wastage of time, how can a common man trust, that if separatists would have talked to the delegation, cannot be the same deceit repeated as it was repeated last time.
Now coming to the discussion on NDTV, the ex home and finance minister Mr. Chitambaram highlighted the genuine aspirations of the people of Kashmir. But why didn’t he fulfill their aspirations during his tenure, is a million dollar question, and the reasons are best known to him. But it is not even late today, if the think tank and decision makers, of the Union and state governments just read the beautiful statement of Karan Singh, and instead of beating the Bush, must enter into dialogue, with all stakeholders holders, to find some way out for the resolution of the present unrest.
Unfortunately, in lieu of resolving Kashmir issue, intellectually, everyone is playing the blame game, slapping and slamming one another. It is better to stop ruckus and put break on further impalement.
The views presented in this article are the Author’s own, and does not in anyway depict the views of the Kashmir Digest. This is an Op Ed.
Syed Abadi Hamdani
Freelance Writer
Writes on Social, Economical and Environmental Issues.