Srinagar: There has been resistance from various quarters on the appointment of the newly-appointed interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma. Some trade and civil society groups have also indicated that they won’t be interacting with Mr Sharma. The Valley-based lawyers, working under the banner of Kashmir High Court Bar Association, have already announced their decision to stay away from the interlocutor.
Muslim Khawateen Markaz, an all-women group affiliated with Hurriyat Conference on Monday held a protest here against Mr Sharma’s visit. Its members who participated in the protest were carrying placards and banners which read, “No to bilateralism; only tripartite talks or UNO resolutions.”
An alliance of key separatist leaders called ‘Joint Resistance Leadership’ has termed Sharma’s appointment as the Centre’s interlocutor as an exercise in futility and decided not to meet him. The alliance which has on it Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik took exception to Sharma’s assertion that his biggest challenge would be to ensure de-radicalisation of the Kashmiri youth and militants to prevent the region from turning into war-torn Syria or Yemen.
“This is misleading. To compare the internationally recognized 70-year-old political and humanitarian issue of Kashmir to that of the sectarian war and power struggle in Syria is deception and propaganda as there is no relation between the two situations,” it said in a statement last week.
Three-time chief minister and president of main Opposition party National Conference Dr. Farooq Abdullah, too has publicly voiced pessimism over the success of Sharma’s mission.
He said on Sunday, “The appointment of this interlocutor is nothing new. I’ve very little expectations from him.”
The Congress has also raised doubt over the sincerity of the government’s move. “First of all it must clarify who are the stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir,” asked senior party leader Tariq Hamid Karra.
The J&K PCC chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir on Monday asked the Central government to make its roadmap for talks with various stakeholders public, alleging that it had made a U-turn on its Kashmir policy by appointing a special representative. “For the last three years, they have been saying that there will be no talks with those who do not want to talk under the ambit of the Constitution. Today, the BJP is saying we are open to dialogue with everyone in the state. This is the U-turn on its Kashmir policy,” he said.
