NEW DELHI: President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include Kashmiri leaders in the India-Pakistan dialogue. This was not ruled out by the prime minister, although New Delhi is of the view that in case this is agreed to it will include not just the separatists but also the elected representatives and others representing a cross-section of society in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gen. Musharraf, who met the Kashmiri separatists here, sent out three messages. One, sink your differences and unite to give your voice more strength and cohesiveness; two, you will be involved in the dialogue between India and Pakistan at some stage; three, the Kashmir issue will be resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.
In turn, the Kashmiri leaders and in particular the JKLF’s Yasin Malik made it clear to him that their “patience was running out” and it was important that decisions concerning Jammu and Kashmir were taken with them on board. Mr Malik told this correspondent that he had warned the general of a “civil non-violent agitation” against both India and Pakistan until and unless they were made party to the current dialogue. He submitted CDs of 15 lakh signatures of Kashmiris demanding their inclusion in the peace process.
The only differing voice was that of hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has not endorsed the peace process, and is particularly upset that President Musharraf is no longer describing Kashmir as the “core issue.” He made it clear that he could not be counted upon by Pakistan to support the emerging new line where Jammu and Kashmir was listed as one of the many issues for resolution. Interestingly, Mr Geelani has been also the one consistent voice supporting Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan.
The other Kashmiri leaders, including Mr Malik, Mr Shabir Shah and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, who met Gen. Musharraf in New Delhi, have been for a “solution” that does not necessarily end in accession. It is this moderate voice now that Gen. Musharraf has recognized and as the Mirwaiz said, “He said to us what we have been saying now for years.”
Asked to explain, Mir Waiz pointed out that “we have always said that the solution will come out from a process, President Musharraf now is of the same view.”
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders admit that they made a “mistake” in passing over the invitation to talk from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, in fact, said that they had wanted to postpone this meeting until after they knew what President Musharraf had in mind so as to ensure that “threats” from extremists against them and their relatives were not renewed. The meeting is not on the cards now, although the Hurriyat is still optimistic that it will take place at a later date.
President Musharraf has urged the Kashmiri leaders to talk to Delhi and to start a trilateral dialogue so that it could eventually open the way for their inclusion in the peace process.
He said at a meeting of Indian editors on Monday that he realized that the legislators in Jammu and Kashmir also represented a point of view and hinted at a “step by step” approach for possible wider consultation with Kashmiri society.
Mr Shabir Shah also joined the others in convincing Gen. Musharraf that it was time to involve the Kashmiris in the dialogue. When the general sought to assure them that this would be done, Mr Yasin Malik always known for his blunt speech reportedly told him that only action would prove the words. It was pointed out that the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar had been started without even informing the Kashmiri leaders and that while they supported the CBM they had not come out in strength to welcome it.
“Otherwise the reception would have been such that it would have taken the bus seven days to reach Uri,” Mr Malik told the general. Mr Geelani, of course, had no hesitation in pointing out that he was opposed to such CBMs and expected a final settlement of Jammu and Kashmir first.
Interestingly, after the meeting, it appears that Mr Geelani has been totally isolated. Some members of his delegation who were not happy with the sum and substance of the long interaction between him and Gen. Musharraf, have already approached the Hurriyat leaders for inclusion. There is a move by many of his supporters to leave him and join the Mirwaiz group.
Mr Geelani, however, told this correspondent that he was not prepared to change his stand and would stand by what he believed in. “Too many people have died here for us to allow any one to play with the future of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.—By arrangement with AsianAge/Delhi
