J-K interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma bats for peace as fresh storm brews over Article 35A

The government interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, said on Wednesday that the need of the hour was a break from the “narrative of violence” and called for measures that will help “change the public sentiment” at a time when the Valley was tense over apprehensions that Article 35A of the Constitution might be scrapped.

“The focus should be on youth engagement and public sentiments. For peace, it is important not to raise contentious issues,” Sharma, a former Intelligence Bureau director, told HT.

His comments came a day after National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval said at a book launch that a separate Constitution for J&K was an aberration and that sovereignty “cannot be a diluted and ill-defined”.

Doval’s remarks sparked a political storm on Wednesday, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) criticising him and the National Conference (NC) threatening to boycott the upcoming civic elections in the state. The NC and the PDP — the two main regional parties in J&K — have staged protests against any attempts to change Article 35A and Article 370, which give special privileges to the state.

The Supreme Court is hearing petitions on Article 35A, which empowers the J&K legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to them. Last week, the court put off the hearings to January after the Centre and the state government argued that it could lead to a law and order situation ahead of the panchayat and local body elections.

On Wednesday, NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Twitter it was up to the Centre to clarify its stand on Article 35A. After a core group meeting, his party said in a statement, “It was felt that any tinkering with Art 35 A would prove disastrous not only for our state but for the entire country.”

The NC also said it will not take part in the urban local body and panchayat elections, slated for October-November, unless and until the Centre and the state administration “take effective steps for the protection of Art 35A in and outside the Courts”.

Rafi Mir, a PDP leader and spokesperson, told news agency IANS: “Such inflections and unwarranted remarks of Doval when Kashmir is reeling under trouble and witnessing a political turmoil shows the insensitivity of the NSA towards the people of Kashmir.”

Sharma is scheduled to visit the Valley on Thursday. He was appointed the interlocutor on October 23, and has pushed for several peace-building measures. An amnesty to first-time stone-pelters was granted on his recommendation last year.

And home minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces in May not to initiate counter-insurgency operations in the militancy-hit state in the month of Ramzan.

Sharma will be calling on the new governor, Satya Pal Malik, the administrative head of the state. Soon after Eid, the Bharatiya Janata Party broke its alliance with Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, and the state was brought under Governor’s Rule on June 20.

Malik too has talked about the need for dialogue to “win hearts”. He is said to have been at the Centre of the decision to release the relatives of militants who were arrested last week.

Amid mounting tension in the Valley, militants abducted, and then released, 11 relatives of state police personnel in apparent retaliation to police detention of the families of three Hizbul Mujahideen militants.

First Published: Sep 05, 2018 23:36 IST