A Congress panel headed by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is currently on a two visit to Kashmir. The All India Congress Committee’s Policy and Planning group, which was formed in April in the wake of widespread violence in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, is scheduled to meet various delegations from Kashmir, including opposition parties.
During their stay, the high-level visiting delegation comprising of senior stalwarts of congress party including leader of opposition in Parliament, Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union home minister P Chidambaram and party General Secretary Ambika Soni and others would hold talks with delegations of various civil society organizations, journalists, traders and leaders of socio-religious groups. However, meeting pro-freedom leaders is not part of the group’s agenda. Speaking to reporters on sidelines of the meeting, Azad the former chief minister of Indian held Kashmir said, “The central as well as the state government should keep the dialogue route with separatists openâ€. Azad while referring to the main stakeholders said, “The central as well as the ‘state government’ have to decide which stakeholders to talk to. Everyone knows who the stakeholders are, but they are afraid to take the names. And when they are afraid to even identify them as stakeholders, how will there be a resolution? “They (central and state governments) should talk to them (separatists) and try to resolve the issue,” the Leader of Opposition said. Asked whether the Congress would engage in talks with separatist Hurriyat leaders, Azad said: “I have seen the list of 45 political parties and other groups we will be meeting here, but I did not find Hurriyat in that list”.
He, however, put the ball in the government’s court, saying Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has been speaking of a dialogue with all stakeholders to solve the Kashmir problem. “But she is shying away from naming who these stakeholders are”, he said.
Regardless of his contention over the issue of Kashmir, Azad, without saying much, had actually hit the nail on the head by pointing who these main stakeholders are. India has always tried to discredit and demean Hurriyat, despite the fact that it represents wishes and aspirations of a vast majority of Kashmiri society that, as a matter of fact, has never accepted India’s illegal and forcible control over the territory. Hurriyat is the representative forum that represents the sentiment, which is rooted deep into the soul of Kashmir. Sooner or later India will have to accept this bitter reality. So far as the Kashmir problem is concerned, it is high-time that India should accept the ground reality and initiate dialogue with all stakeholders to the dispute. The reality is that Kashmir issue is all about the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. A result oriented and meaningful dialogue was essentially important to resolve the dispute peacefully.
India should bear in mind the fact that there is no military solution to the dispute, instead of portraying Kashmir as a law and order issue. Rather dealing the issue militarily India should accept the ground reality, initiate a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan and the representatives of Kashmiri people to find out a solution to the dispute that has marred the socio-economic development in the region.
The military approach, as Hurriyat leadership has said, results in continued killing, maiming, blinding and injuring of people of Kashmir who have been demanding their right guaranteed to them by the world community as well as the leadership of India and Pakistan. Instead of beating around the bush the Congress panel should come clear on the issue and honour the commitments of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru on Kashmir. Rather than wasting time in talking irrelevant forces India should heed the clarion call of its own people and demonstrate the political will and magnanimity to take the bull by its horns.