J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik and Hurriyat’s Mirwaiz Umar Farooq may yet find a salve to a seriously damaged Valley

Given the shadow of the worst militant attacks in Pulwama and the ice-cold freeze on talks between India and Pakistan following the Balakot airstrikes, one had not expected this reciprocation. But the relentless overtures of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik in reaching out to the Valley’s youth, village communities and now even the Hurriyat Conference for talks and dialogue have clearly got things moving. Hurriyat’s moderate face and chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has confirmed being part of the talks, saying a government with a massive mandate should initiate a political process and end the cycle of violence. At least the acquiescence to the Governor’s olive branch assumes significance at a time when Hurriyat leaders are being watched closely and have certain security restrictions in place. It is no secret that the Government is cracking down severely on Pakistan’s funding of militant activity, a move that has affected the Hurriyat, too. This squeeze perhaps explains the willingness of its leaders to sit across the table. But practically speaking, it seems the Hurriyat doesn’t want to be seen as a deal-breaker either. Of course, the bigger question is whether the talks will indeed take place or just be reduced to another round of tokenism as it has happened before. 

Looking at the offer through the post-Balakot prism, which redefined the dynamic of deterrence for Pakistan-exported terrorism for good, there are new realities to be confronted by both sides. The most worrying aspect of the Pulwama attack was that the suicide attacker was a local youth who had been drafted in by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The government can hardly afford more young men falling into the snare set by Pakistan-sponsored militant networks and trainers. And the hostile environment cannot be allowed to fester. So it is looking for ways and means to mainstream the dispossessed youth, the village contact programme breaking the status quo of the local leadership, which had almost taken this section of society for granted. Besides, unlike the flagrant belligerence of tall claims made by the central leadership of the ruling BJP, the Governor has been prudent, staying away from committing himself to any talk on Article 371 and Article 35 A, declaring how the flag of Kashmir was being placed next to the national flag on his car, publicising his earnestness to settle the anger of the younger generation and pledging to fight the drug menace in the State, a plank raised by the Mirwaiz, too. Further, by announcing the distribution of free-to-air Doordarshan set-top boxes to residents of border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Malik has also neutralised the one-way information propaganda rather tidily. Even before Pulwama, the government had been insisting on talks with locals, acknowledging separatists as stakeholders in the dialogue process in its earlier term. By making the right noises, the government is trying to steer the Hurriyat away from the Pakistan-dictated narrative and reminding its leadership that its appeal too would be lost without a connect with the local youth. At the same time, by trying to heal the disturbed youth, it is reaching out to a society that is clearly tired of the violence and whose members do not have it in them to send more martyrs to a lost cause. The common Kashmiri now wants peace, stability and anchorage and does not want to consider being a migratory species. Already the apolitical Kashmiri talent pool has all but left the Valley. Even the Hurriyat realises that it cannot lose its social endorsement. And though it is still in the Government’s calipers, it doesn’t want to lose its psychological hold over the locals or risk their weariness. Particularly at a time when Pakistan is under global pressure to tone down its adventurism. This is the reason why the pathological hatred of the hawkish Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani towards any peace move, which has been scuttling the talks process for years, is no longer relevant. And though the Hurriyat has been a collective identity, individually Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik had taken divergent positions. While there is no dilution of the Government’s “no talks without terror” line with Pakistan, Governor Malik’s non-adversarial, velvet glove approach has clearly softened the edges. Trust takes time to develop and the Government has to tread the ground cautiously without fanning jingoistic irritants and avoid missteps like the rubber pellet firing at children instead of stone pelters.

Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer

J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik and Hurriyat’s Mirwaiz Umar Farooq may yet find a salve to a seriously damaged Valley

Given the shadow of the worst militant attacks in Pulwama and the ice-cold freeze on talks between India and Pakistan following the Balakot airstrikes, one had not expected this reciprocation. But the relentless overtures of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik in reaching out to the Valley’s youth, village communities and now even the Hurriyat Conference for talks and dialogue have clearly got things moving. Hurriyat’s moderate face and chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has confirmed being part of the talks, saying a government with a massive mandate should initiate a political process and end the cycle of violence. At least the acquiescence to the Governor’s olive branch assumes significance at a time when Hurriyat leaders are being watched closely and have certain security restrictions in place. It is no secret that the Government is cracking down severely on Pakistan’s funding of militant activity, a move that has affected the Hurriyat, too. This squeeze perhaps explains the willingness of its leaders to sit across the table. But practically speaking, it seems the Hurriyat doesn’t want to be seen as a deal-breaker either. Of course, the bigger question is whether the talks will indeed take place or just be reduced to another round of tokenism as it has happened before. 

Looking at the offer through the post-Balakot prism, which redefined the dynamic of deterrence for Pakistan-exported terrorism for good, there are new realities to be confronted by both sides. The most worrying aspect of the Pulwama attack was that the suicide attacker was a local youth who had been drafted in by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The government can hardly afford more young men falling into the snare set by Pakistan-sponsored militant networks and trainers. And the hostile environment cannot be allowed to fester. So it is looking for ways and means to mainstream the dispossessed youth, the village contact programme breaking the status quo of the local leadership, which had almost taken this section of society for granted. Besides, unlike the flagrant belligerence of tall claims made by the central leadership of the ruling BJP, the Governor has been prudent, staying away from committing himself to any talk on Article 371 and Article 35 A, declaring how the flag of Kashmir was being placed next to the national flag on his car, publicising his earnestness to settle the anger of the younger generation and pledging to fight the drug menace in the State, a plank raised by the Mirwaiz, too. Further, by announcing the distribution of free-to-air Doordarshan set-top boxes to residents of border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Malik has also neutralised the one-way information propaganda rather tidily. Even before Pulwama, the government had been insisting on talks with locals, acknowledging separatists as stakeholders in the dialogue process in its earlier term. By making the right noises, the government is trying to steer the Hurriyat away from the Pakistan-dictated narrative and reminding its leadership that its appeal too would be lost without a connect with the local youth. At the same time, by trying to heal the disturbed youth, it is reaching out to a society that is clearly tired of the violence and whose members do not have it in them to send more martyrs to a lost cause. The common Kashmiri now wants peace, stability and anchorage and does not want to consider being a migratory species. Already the apolitical Kashmiri talent pool has all but left the Valley. Even the Hurriyat realises that it cannot lose its social endorsement. And though it is still in the Government’s calipers, it doesn’t want to lose its psychological hold over the locals or risk their weariness. Particularly at a time when Pakistan is under global pressure to tone down its adventurism. This is the reason why the pathological hatred of the hawkish Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani towards any peace move, which has been scuttling the talks process for years, is no longer relevant. And though the Hurriyat has been a collective identity, individually Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik had taken divergent positions. While there is no dilution of the Government’s “no talks without terror” line with Pakistan, Governor Malik’s non-adversarial, velvet glove approach has clearly softened the edges. Trust takes time to develop and the Government has to tread the ground cautiously without fanning jingoistic irritants and avoid missteps like the rubber pellet firing at children instead of stone pelters.

Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer