Srinagar: In a significant development, Jammu and Kashmir’s main opposition party National Conference (NC) on Sunday said that the Centre’s appointing a new interlocutor on the state was an exercise in futility and wastage of time.
The National Conference president and three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah said that he was not any optimistic about the Centre’s move and has very little expectation from its news interlocutor on Kashmir. Instead, he said, the government should devise a “sound Kashmir policy”.
“The appointment of this interlocutor is nothing new. I’ve very little expectations from him. Like it has been done before, he will come and meet people and eventually nothing will happen,” he said. Abdullah who represents Srinagar constituency in LoK Sabha was addressing a rally in Tangdhar area close the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district.
Abdullah’s statement is bound to leave an adverse impact on the task assigned to 1979 batch IPS officer and former Intelligence Bureau Chief Dineshwar Sharma who was appointed as the government’s representative to hold talks with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir on October 23. He is scheduled to arrive in the State on Monday on his maiden visit as the Centre’s new interlocutor.
Already an alliance of separatists called “Joint Resistance Leadership” (JRL) has termed Sharma’s appointment as “nothing more than a tactic to buy time” and announced that it won’t meet him.
The alliance which has been calling shots in Kashmir over a period of time and has on it key separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Sunday while reiterating it said that it won’t become part of this “useless talks” process.
Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference in a statement issued here said, “The Hurriyat Conference rejects the facade of talks initiated to kill time. We reiterate that no forum or party from Hurriyat camp will become part of the process.”
It also said, “The dialogue that refers to the destruction in Yemen and Syria in a bid to threaten Kashmir, trying to make Islam understandable to us is actually extension of the military operation that is aimed at forcing Kashmir leadership to talk.”
The NC president, however, pointed out that the Centre has appointed interlocutors on Kashmir earlier also but failed to implement their recommendations. He said that in 2010 the then UPA government appointed a group of three interlocutors. “It visited the State and had detailed discussions with every section here. The process took more than two months and after they were done with meeting people, a report was compiled,” he said.
He asked, “What happened to that report. Did the government discuss it in any forum including the Parliament?” Answering it himself, he said, “No. Instead it has been thrown into a dust bin somewhere in North Block.
He said that it was followed by a delegation comprising of parliamentarians who visited Kashmir. “What happened to that delegation and their recommendations? Nothing! So I expect nothing will happen even now.”
He alleged, “Ever since Modi-led government assumed power, their Kashmir policy has been swinging like a pendulum. The appointment of the new interlocutor is itself mired in controversies”.
Elaborating, he said that Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, at his October 23 press conference described Sharma as the government’s representative whereas the very next day Minister of State at the PMP, Jitendra Singh, designated him as mere spokesperson. “So essentially when the mandate given to Mr. Dineshwar Sharma is not clearly specified, then what is the fun in having deliberations with him?”, he asked.
Abdullah reiterated that autonomy is the NC’s core political agenda and “a way forward towards resolution of the political issue of Jammu and Kashmir.” He said, “Our stand on resolving the issue of J&K politically is loud and clear which is the restoration of pre-1953 situation to the State.”
Asserting that New Delhi was bound to make provisions to grant autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “This was a guarantee that time and again has been clarified with number of deputations and representatives of the Government of India. Therefore for upholding the political dignity and rights of the people of J&K, restoration of autonomy is a must.”
