It is going to be a daunting task for Dineshwar Sharma, the Centre's special representative for Jammu and Kashmir, to bring all stakeholders together and initiate a dialogue process that will try to lay down a peaceful solution for the problem in the Valley.
File photo of Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor. News18
Sharma, who arrived in Srinagar earlier on Monday, will be on a five-day Kashmir visit to start the multi-layered dialogue process.
Official sources said that the new interlocutor will stay in the Valley for three days while spending two days in the Jammu region to start the dialogue process with various political parties, socio-cultural organisations, individuals and opinion makers.
Different stakeholders in the Valley have reacted differently with Sharma's scheduled visit. While Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh on Monday said that Sharma is an experienced person and expected good results out of the talk process, the separatists have termed it "forced".
This is a very sincere effort and should be seen as a very serious move by the Govt of India: J&K Minister Naeem Akhtar on #DineshwarSharmapic.twitter.com/0DVwUeRaxU
— ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2017
Separatist leaders reject 'forced negotiation'
On Sunday, Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani claimed that an official of the state government approached them for facilitating a meeting of the separatist leader with the Centre's special representative.
The outfit, however, claimed that its leaders would not meet the Centre's special representative for Kashmir.
The outfit also said that "forced negotiations" have no political or moral justifications.
"We reject the dialogue offer...it is mere rhetoric and wastage of time and no section of Hurriyat or the group will meet the designated interlocutor or participate in this futile exercise," said Hurriyat spokesman on Sunday.
Separatist leader Hilal War on Monday said:
We outrightly reject the role of an interlocutor in resolving the Kashmir issue: Hilal War,Separatist leader on #DineshwarSharmapic.twitter.com/VAcfrxpEeb — ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2017
Earlier, on 31 October, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), a conglomerate of senior separatist leaders, issued a statement saying they won't have any talks with the Indian government's interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir. The statement was issued by JRL leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik.
"To be part of this so-called dialogue process would be a futile exercise for any Kashmiri since this new tactic has been adopted by the Indian government after its failure to crush the aspirations of the freedom loving people through military repression," they said.
For National Conference, autonomy is the only solution
File Image of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. AFP
Farooq Abdullah, president of opposition party National Conference, said on Sunday that he did not have any expectations from Sharma and the only way forward in Kashmir was the restoration of autonomy to the state.
Abdullah said that the Central government should devise a sound Kashmir policy and termed the appointment of a new interlocutor to Kashmir as nothing new.
"I have very little expectations from this new interlocutor. Like it has been done before, he will come and meet people. In 2010, the then UPA government appointed a group of interlocutors who visited the state and had detailed discussions with every section here," he said.
VHP has its own agenda
Pressing interlocutor Sharma to give priority to the resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits' issue, VHP chief Praveen Togadia on Saturday said, "Unless Kashmiri Pandits are not settled in their homeland, no dialogue is worth its meaning. The fact that they cannot come back to their homes is not only painful but insulting as well."
Togadia said that those demanding 'aazadi' or self-rule should go to Pakistan as those talking against the Constitution are traitors.
Criticism galore
On 28 October, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram had said the appointment of an interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir did not indicate a change of heart or approach by the Centre in its Kashmir policy but was a "diversionary" tactic as it would continue to hold on to its "muscular policy and military solution".
Chidambaram said he was not convinced that Sharma "had any mandate to hold meaningful talks with all sections of the society".
Former interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir and the former Central Information Commissioner, MM Ansari in this Firstpost article on 24 October, had called Sharma's appointment a futile move.
"The appointment of an IPS officer shows that the government still thinks about the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through the prism of national security and intelligence. But the fact is that the problem can only be solved politically. And, this is admitted by the army chiefs and other security-related experts who have worked in the Jammu and Kashmir region," Ansari had argued.
'All stakeholders welcome to talk to Sharma'
On 28 October, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav had said that interlocutor Sharma had the mandate to talk to everyone including the separatists. "Whosoever will come forward, he (Sharma) can talk to him. He has that mandate.... You should ask this to the Hurriyat whether they are ready to talk," Madhav told reporters.
Interlocutor Sharma's optimistic approach
The 61-year-old Sharma, who had served as the Intelligence Bureau chief, had earlier said that he was willing to meet every common person who had a genuine grievance. Hailing from Bihar, Sharma had said that he had an emotional attachment with Kashmir as it was his first field posting way back in 1992.
On Sunday, Sharma said that he did not have a magic wand, but wanted to be judged by his actions when he starts the process of talks in the Valley. "I do not have a magic wand but my efforts have to be judged with sincerity and not through the prism of the past," Sharma said, adding that no one should jump to conclusions before the process of talks with various stakeholders in Kashmir began.
"I would like to be judged by my actions," he told PTI. Describing his work as a "serious effort", he added that "one should refrain from fishing in the desert".
With inputs from agencies
Published Date: Nov 06, 2017 12:52 pm | Updated Date: Nov 06, 2017 01:10 pm
