Speaking in the Assembly, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has said the interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma was behaving like super-chief minister. His objections are valid. He said the interlocutor had no right to look into the problems with regard to power, water, non-availability of doctors at hospital and unemployment issues. It is your job, he said pointing towards Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. He also raised legitimate questions about the mission of the interlocutor. Sharmas responsibility, he said, should be different. Sharma should meet such people, who will facilitate resolution of the big issues. The minor issues could be solved by you (CM) as well,” he said.
He also called on the government to dispel the confusion about the status of the interlocutor. Government, he said, should clarify if Sharma was an interlocutor or a special representative or a spokesperson as different voices were coming from the governments at the centre and in the state on the issue. Omar also sought clarification about the mandate of Sharma as so far nothing is clear about the goal of his mission.
The former Chief Minister couldnt have been more right in his observations. In fact, he has hit the nail on the head. He has pointed out all that is wrong with the appointment of Sharma. His mission in the state remains vague. And the need in Kashmir is for an honest and a meaningful exercise.
The scale of the popular anger in Valley as witnessed in the past two years has shown that New Delhi can no longer afford to sleep over a response to the situation in the state. Is another interlocutor the solution? May be not. His appointment in the wake of the ongoing upheaval smacks of a knee-jerk reaction, a recourse to a treatment that has been tried and rejected several times before. The new interlocutor himself is downgrading the initiative further by following in the footsteps of his predecessors, trick by trick. And in the process, he only helps evoke a sense of de javu, a recurrent feeling that this initiative is relentlessly heading into the same fate that met the likes of the ones led by Dilip Padgaonkar, K C Pant, R K Mishra, Kashmir Committee and the present governor N N Vohra. That is, if the initiative is not inherently designed to end like this. And if the goal is truly a solution, this calls for a fundamental shift in the strategy and the practices adopted so far.
The immediate priority, in any case, should be to draw separatists into a dialogue which they believe in. A dialogue that creates a sense of incremental progress towards some goal. And for this to happen, the interlocutors will have to first take up for consideration the proposals made by the separatists to get into an engagement. It needs a little boldness, little innovation and a little imagination to respond to the demands. Rewards will be fast and quick. Soon, we will have cranked up a promising dialogue process which if sustained could in the long term lead to a solution.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
