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Kashmir: Where is the passport to peace?

Rasheeda Bhagat

THE HAGGLING between the Government of India and the All Party Hurriyat Conference of Kashmir over the issue of passports to the Hurriyat members to enable their visit to Pakistan, is akin to the squabble between two groups of high school boys. Worse, it brings out the fragility of the entire process initiated by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to bring peace to the strife-torn State of Jammu and Kashmir.

On the Government's side, one day you are told all the Hurriyat members will be given passports and that they are free to travel wherever they want; the next day that the government officials will study their passport applications on a ``case-by-case'' b asis.

On the Hurriyat side, accusations are flung, doubts expressed and allegations made, all within the 23-member umbrella organisation. One day the former Hurriyat chairman, Mr Abdul Gani Lone, now famous for his recent visit to Pakistan for his son's marria ge, is regarded as a hawk who wants to tear into the Indian Government, especially the Home Minister. He is applauded for his statement that the Hurriyat does not recognise the Constitution.

But the moment he refused to toe the Pakistani line and said that Kashmiris have the right to decide on their destiny without being swayed by either of the two governments, he becomes a persona non-grata, accused of having gone soft on India and even dec lared ``an agent of the Government of India''.

January 15, the day when the Hurriyat leaders are scheduled to go to Pakistan in a delegation to hold talks with the Musharraf Government, is less than a week away. But the Hurriyat executive committee members are yet to know the fate of their passports.

The Hurriyat's demand that all the executive members will have to go to Pakistan for the dialogue is, of course, the result of the categorical demand from the Pakistan-backed Hizbul Mujahideen that the Hurriyat delegation should include the Jamaat-e-Isla mi leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Now there are reports that there is also the likelihood of the People's League leader, Sheik Abdul Aziz, and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Javed Ahmed Mir, being included in the delegation.

Right now the whole affair seems to be stuck with New Delhi demanding to know who the Hurriyat wants in its delegation, so that it could take up their travel papers for clearance. But a petulant Hurriyat chief, Mr Abdul Ghani Bhat, accuses the Government of ``dilly dallying'' over the passport issue and adds, ``I am not sure that we will get our passports before January 15.'' He argues that there is no point in announcing the members of the delegation that will visit Pakistan. Give us the passports and we will announce the names, is his stand.

Considering that the Kashmir peace process has such a long and tortuous path to traverse, this haggling at the very outset has certainly thrown a wet towel over the issue. The hurdle, cropping up at the very first stage, reinforces the truth that there a re no easy solutions to the Kashmir problem.

The Prime Minister might say, in his Kumarakom musings, that he is prepared to take bold and innovative measures and go beyond the beaten track to find a solution to this contentious issue. But his government is forced to sit up and take note when the Is lamic ultras across the border dictate who should form part of the Hurriyat delegation to Pakistan.

But before taking too belligerent a stand, the Hurriyat would do well to keep in mind, as the Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, so pertinently pointed out a few days ago, that it cannot consider itself to be the sole representative or spokesperson of the K ashmiri people. Any visitor to the Valley can easily gauge the mood of the people. They might blame the rest of Indians for not sparing a tear for their strife-torn decade-long existence. But they are so exhausted, having faced the wrong end of the stick from both the Indian security forces and the Islamic militants who can be vicious to anybody who does not toe their line, that they will readily take any peace initiative.

True, the elected representatives of the State -- the Farooq Abdullah government -- have had to take a back seat at the moment, thanks to some daft handling by New Delhi of the autonomy resolution passed by the State's legislature in June 2000. By throwi ng out lock, stock and barrel the resolution, which was asking for much, much less than either the Hurriyat or the Kashmiri militants the Government engaged in talks within a month, the Union Cabinet did dis-service to the cause.

Anyway much water has flowed down the Jhelum since then. Shrill opposition to the autonomy resolution, mainly from the saffron brigade, even without reading, leave alone understanding, the a, b or c of the document, resulted in a knee-jerk response from the Government which rejected the autonomy initiative outright.

And after doing this what does the Government do? Engage in a dialogue with militants such as the Hizb! And then goes ahead and woos the hawkish Hurriyat! And keeps getting the egg on its face from time-to-time.

But, however difficult and tricky the path of peace, India has no alternative except to pursue it. Especially because there will not be a better moment than this to make Pakistan speak the language of peace. With his most viable political opponents -- Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif -- out of the way, and secure on the gaddi, it seems logical for the Pakistani ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to go down in history as the man who participated in a peace process in Kashmir. Pakistan military and peace i n Kashmir? This might appear a contradiction but does make solid sense for the General.

(Feedback may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)