Pakistan News And Discussion-9

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Musharraf’s formula excites Kashmiris </b>
FT
Iftikhar Gilani
Kashmiri leaders insist that a dialogue on Kashmir must show results on the ground 
   
In the midst of the excitement following President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula on Kashmir, the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is preparing to hold another round of dialogue with the pro-freedom Kashmiri parties. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has already been informed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants to hold the third round-table conference with pro-India groups possibly in January, and preferably in Jammu.

The wait is inevitable considering the PM’s December visit to Japan, even though sources say he would have liked the round table to be held before the year ends. Exact dates of the formal round table are not confirmed yet because it is not clear whether the prime minister wants to hold talks before or after the visit to Pakistan on January 13 next year of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee is to review the third round of the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan with his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Kasuri.

Government sources say Manmohan Singh is also planning a separate audience with the moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front led by Yaseen Malik and Democratic Freedom Party led by Shabir Ahmed Shah.<b> “The government is already talking informally with pro-freedom groups through its chief interlocutor N N Vohra,” says the source. Vohra is a former defence and home secretary. Others doing the talking include former RAW chief A S Dulat and the Minister for Water Resources Development Professor Saifuddin Soz.</b>

On the issue of the upcoming meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India, observers say Musharraf has already upstaged the Indian agenda for the meeting by unilaterally declaring a four-point formula for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. The formula has got most political actors in the Indian-Held Kashmir very excited; except the hard-line faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani, all groups including pro-India parties like the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of former chief minister Mufti Sayeed and the National Conference of Dr Farooq Adullah are pressing the government to give serious thought to Musharraf’s proposals.

“Manmohan Singh is aware of the fact that the Kashmiri leaders will definitely raise the issue of these proposals in their meeting with the prime minister. He has, therefore, asked officials to prepare a brief for him on the subject,” says a source.

<b>Manmohan Singh had set up five special working groups to study various aspects of the Kashmir problem after the last round-table in Srinagar in May this year. The reports of four groups are said to be ready and Singh wants to discuss them in the upcoming roundtable. The fifth and most crucial group, which looks at Centre-State relations and demands like autonomy and self-rule, could be constituted only recently and hence the upcoming round-table may not get the report of this group in time.</b>

Sources in the Hurriyat say its leaders plans to visit Pakistan in January next year and will be carrying Hurriyat’s own set of proposals on Kashmir. “We have got some indication from certain channels that the government of India has realised that the resumption of the dialogue process with us is the need of the hour. New Delhi has also realised that round table conferences and working groups could not prove effective,” says Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Significantly, Hurriyat has sought a debate on the idea of ‘self-rule’ as put forward by President Musharraf. After a series of meetings, Hurriyat spokesman Professor Abdul Gani Bhat also defended the concept against critics who look at it as a betrayal of the two-decade-long struggle. Bhat says ‘self-rule’ is a palatable and realistic idea and “addresses the sentiment in the context of change”. ‘Self rule’ is also the slogan of the People’s Democratic Party.

Bhat says while different groups put their own spin on the concept of self-governance, Hurriyat concentrates on what is essential and basic. “We interpret the proposal in the context of sentiments that are fast changing. Self-rule or self-governance is not a concession; it is a concept in terms of a political thought, a concept that recognises the peoples’ right to be the masters of their fate. It implies no masters, no surrogates but equals,” explains Bhat.

Mirwaiz also stresses similar talks between Islamabad and the leadership in AJK. He says he is trying to unite the leadership of IHJK and AJK to mount pressure on New Delhi and Islamabad for a solution of the Kashmir issue. “During my recent visit to Cairo, I met Sardar Abdul Qayyum. We felt the need to form a joint platform of leadership of Azad Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir. When we visit AJK, we will make efforts to form a joint mechanism for unity which will put us in a commanding position to pressurise India and Pakistan for a solution,” he says.

Insiders say a solution to the Kashmir problem is already on the table. “Track II channels have concluded steps to find an amicable solution that could be acceptable to India, Pakistan and a majority of the Kashmiri leadership. The only difference is that while President Musharraf mentions the term joint supervision or joint management, Prime Minister Singh prefers to use cooperative management,” said the source. “An exercise to harmonise the constitutions of both parts of Jammu and Kashmir has already begun.”

Speculations are also rife in Srinagar that Hurriyat has started an exercise to amend its Constitution. Though the Constitution is flexible in seeking an alternative solution acceptable to all parties to the dispute, the primary article envisages the implementation of the UN resolution. It is very likely that the demand to seek plebiscite may be abrogated once the peace process shows some progress on the ground.

Mirwaiz, however, maintains that dialogue must show results on the ground. “The talks should not be for the sake of talks but have some impact; human rights violations must come to an end and troops should be withdrawn to the barracks. We are not attaching pre-conditions to the dialogue. The important thing is that people must feel some relief.”

Meanwhile, the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference is also contemplating visiting China to seek Beijing’s help in the resolution of the Kashmir issue. So far, the Chinese Embassy in Delhi has kept Kashmiri leadership at an arm’s length.

Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq says: “We are working on that [avisit to China]. We cannot underestimate that regional players, <span style='color:red'>especially China, have a great interest in Kashmir.” </span>
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