The Hindu Business Line : Role of the Hurriyat in J&K — Is New Delhi pandering to Kashmiri separatists?

A clear message needs to be sent to the Hurriyat Conference that before it seeks high-level meetings it should interact with the Government's interlocutor for Kashmir, participate in discussions with a cross-section of political and public opinion in J&K, and that it cannot invite `political leaders' from POK and areas across the LOC.

Ever since the Manmohan Singh Government assumed office there has been a strange propensity to believe that hardcore separatists — armed, financed and trained across our borders — can be won over by a policy amounting to appeasement. This first manifested itself in the Government's approach to the ULFA in Assam, which was let off the hook by an ill-advised ceasefire just when the Army had the militant cadres on the run.

We are now seeing a similar approach to the separatists of the "moderate" Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir. It is no secret that the Hurriyat Conference, established on March 10, 1993, was set up with Pakistani support, to give a political content to a demoralised and failing armed uprising in Kashmir. The Hurriyat leadership has consistently supported Pakistani efforts to pursue its "unfinished agenda of Partition" in Jammu and Kashmir. Its Constitution adopted in March 1993 says the Hurriyat is committed to a "peaceful struggle" to obtain the "right to self-determination under UN Resolutions for the people of J&K."

Every party in the Hurriyat Conference has remained close to terrorist groups which are members of the ISI-sponsored United Jihad Council operating out of Muzaffarabad. If Syed Ali Shah Geelani uses the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen to enforce his writ through terrorist violence, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is familiar with Al Umar Mujahideen led by Mushtaq Zargar, a serial killer released during the infamous Kandahar hijacking.

The Hurriyat Conference is derogatorily referred to as the "Hartal Conference" in the Kashmir Valley because of its propensity, duly backed by the guns of militants, to call Hartals and Bandhs on every conceivable occasion. But throughout its existence, the Hurriyat, which calls itself the "sole" and "authentic" representative of the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, has served as the mouthpiece for the Pakistan Government and constituted itself as the political arm of the terrorists sponsored by the ISI.

Moderates and hardliners

Pakistan has obliged the Hurriyat by getting it observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Conference, enabling its leaders to meet those of Islamic countries. Knowing its limited electoral appeal and given the disunity in its ranks the Hurriyat has never contested elections.

Apologists of the Hurriyat claim that the organisation split, the Mirwaiz leading the "moderates" and Geelani the "hardliners," because of differences over their responses to Gen Pervez Musharraf's four-point proposal on Jammu and Kashmir. The real reason for the split, however, lies in developments in Pakistan, where Gen Musharraf and the Amir of the Jamat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, fell apart.

For ideological reasons, Geelani backed and toed the line advocated by the Qazi who, for his own reasons, opposed Gen Musharraf's proposals. Since then, while Gen Musharraf has been the mentor of the "moderates" led by the Mirwaiz, Geelani has chosen to regard Qazi Hussain Ahmad as his mentor. Any "threat" the Mirwaiz faces is from the cadres of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen led by Syed Salahuddin in Muzaffarabad.

When Mirwaiz Farooq left for Islamabad, he assumed pretensions of being the "bridge" between New Delhi and Islamabad. He also purported to be the sole voice of the people of Kashmir. In actual fact, he did little more that echo Gen Musharraf's proposals, though he did let the cat out of the bag by revealing that what Gen Musharraf was proposing was an "interim" and not a "final" solution on the J&K issue.

The Mirwaiz appears to have been advised by Gen Musharraf to set the stage for a "ceasefire" in Jammu and Kashmir by calling on the militants to end their armed struggle. Those in Pakistan backing Qazi Hussain Ahmad's approach called Mirwaiz a "traitor" to the cause of the Kashmiris and the "Hamid Karzai of Kashmir". Feeling the political heat, the Pakistan Foreign Office distanced itself from what the Mirwaiz said stating that what he had said constituted his personal views and were not the Pakistan Government's.

Terrror nexus

Desperate to save his skin and avoid the wrath of the jihadis, who could threaten his life, the Mirwaiz appears to have organised a meeting with Mushtaq Zargar — the one terrorist leader on whom he could rely. This could not have happened without ISI facilitation. Pakistan has, after all, consistently denied having any knowledge of Zargar's whereabouts. At this meeting the Mirwaiz also met "area commanders" of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed — both terrorist organisations banned internationally under the UN Security Council Resolution 1373.

For obvious reasons the Mirwaiz has remained ambiguous about these meetings, but has not denied they took place. Thus, despite Gen Musharraf's protestations, it is obvious that the infrastructure of terrorism is alive and kicking in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and that the ISI is sponsoring these terrorist outfits.

Interestingly, the Hurriyat delegation met political leaders in POK, but studiously avoided meeting with leaders from the Shia-dominated Northern Areas, as these leaders would have spoken candidly about the repression they face. The Mirwaiz has also taken on the role of organising meetings between political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir and those in POK, after his conference with Sardar Atique Ahmad Khan, the "Prime Minister" of POK.

Quite obviously, all such meetings are under Pakistani and ISI patronage. Apparently, Gen Musharraf wishes to use his own protégés to play the leading role in promoting an intra-Kashmiri dialogue, which can then proceed on terms set by him. New Delhi appears to have conducted itself in manner that gave the impression that it would not be averse to the Hurriyat Conference playing such a role.

Ground rules for Hurriyat

While the leaders of mainstream political parties such as the National Conference have watched from the sidelines, the Hurriyat has assumed such airs of self-importance that it will not condescend to meet anyone other than the Prime Minister. A clear message needs to be sent to the Hurriyat Conference that before it seeks political level meetings it should first seek to interact with the Union Government's interlocutor for Kashmir, Mr N. N. Vohra.

Second, Hurriyat Conference leaders should be told that they will have no high-level political contacts in New Delhi till they participate in the round table discussions that have been initiated by the Prime Minister with a wide cross-section of political and public opinion in J&K. New Delhi should also advise the Hurriyat leadership that it will not allow the separatists to assume any role in inviting people like Sardar Atique Ahmad and other political leaders from POK and the Northern Areas across the LOC.

This is a role that has to be played at an appropriate time by the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in consultation with political leaders in the J&K Assembly, with due clearance from the Union Government.

Finally, there can be no question of any "ceasefire" in Jammu and Kashmir till the infrastructure of terrorism across the LOC is dismantled and militants who have crossed the LOC lay down arms One cannot forget that the nation paid a heavy price for the ill-advised "Ramzan Ceasefire" of November 2000.

(The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)