The group first visited Srinagar in October when the agitation was showing no signs of abating and the joint Hurriyat Conference was keeping a distance from those coming from Delhi. Formidable separatist Syed Ali Geelani decided to keep his door locked when a group of MPs led by Sitaram Yechury knocked on it in September. But he opened it for the Sinha team, listened to them patiently, put forth his viewpoint and indicated that he was not averse to dialogue. The same was the case with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. This breakthrough was significant since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Delhi has continuously refused to acknowledge the political simmering in Kashmir. Sinha, a BJP leader, succeeded in breaking bread with the Hurriyat that has emerged as a main stakeholder in the political crisis. The group’s public stand that they were not sent by the government opened up space for dialogue, though Yasin Malik, who is part of the resistance trio, remained aloof.
"Talking to Syed Ali Shah Geelani or the others here will not help. People are with the Hurriyat because it represents the militant sentiment… So talk to the people who are responsible for most of the violence here, even if that means engaging with Hafiz Saeed unofficially. After all, our kids are going to his door"
After their second visit, the Sinha group made public a report that is now being debated from Srinagar to Delhi. The language of the report mirrors what has been said on the ground in the last six months of unrest. The group has hardly changed it, perhaps because they want to build on their credibility. Whatever the group has been told in the north and south Kashmir has been reproduced verbatim, thus bringing to the fore the real perspective. Fearing that matters may intensify after April 2017, the group has concluded that the hatred against India has grown especially among youngsters. Even those, according to the report, who would find India a better place to live in have distanced themselves from the idea given the apathy of the Indian state to their suffering.
The report is a significant acknowledgement from a team that had come from Delhi. In the past distortions in the narrative have been a hallmark of both government and non-government level dialogue, thus denting the credibility of any such process. For example, the report says, “The vocabulary of the youth has also changed, as has their psychological attitude towards India. They talk of curfew, hartals, martyrdom and Burhan (Wani).” Kashmiris, according to the group, have lost faith in India, the institution of dialogue, because New Delhi has failed them. The group prepared the report after meeting people who espoused almost all shades of opinion on the conflict. The cry is that Kashmir needs a comprehensive solution that they think cannot be delivered by the local parties since its magnitude goes beyond borders. “Kashmiris do not believe that the local parties in the State can resolve the political issue of Kashmir. They point out that this complex issue has to be addressed by all the stakeholders—India, Pakistan, and Kashmiris of the entire erstwhile kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. Unless the three stakeholders address the issue, they believe, it cannot be resolved,” says the report. It also emphasizes the need to engage with militants, particularly the Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Salahuddin, who leads the indigenous militant group. It has quoted an unidentified politician on this, stating that even the Hurriyat draws its strength from the militants. “Talking to Syed Ali Shah Geelani or the others here will not help. People are with the Hurriyat because it represents the militant sentiment. The day the Hurriyat leaders stop representing this sentiment, they will be changed. So talk to the people who are responsible for most of the violence here, even if that means engaging with Hafiz Saeed unofficially. After all, our kids are going to his door.”
They point out that this complex issue has to be addressed by all the stakeholders-India, Pakistan, and Kashmiris of the entire erstwhile kingdom of Jammu
and Kashmir
Apart from institutional reforms, the group advocates opening the doors to dialogue, upholding human rights and engagement with youth. It takes a leaf from the Agenda of Alliance (AoA) reached between the BJP and PDP that talks about engagement with Pakistan and the Hurriyat. All the people the group met in Kashmir said that talking to Pakistan was an important route to find a solution. They also asked India to be part of grand initiatives such as CPEC. Whatever the Sinha group has reflected in the report belies the often-parroted narrative by the BJP government in Delhi. It punctures the status quo approach and puts the government in the dock. It is difficult for any government to discount these findings.
Interestingly, the hardline Dukhtaran Millat, which does not see any positives in such initiatives, has hailed the report as rational and an eye-opener for Delhi. This must serve as a push to the efforts made by the group. The group has so far done justice to the self-funded initiative and it must move forward on taking this reality to mainland India.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Srinagar (Kashmir) and can be reached at shujaat7867@gmail.com