A new Kashmir formula

In a pleasant U-turn, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Independence Day, sought to sell to the Kashmiris the virtues of conciliation as the only way out of the Kashmir problem. His formulation was: na goli se, na gaali se, Kashmir ki samasya suljhegi gale lagane se (neither bullet, nor abuse but conciliation will solve the Kashmir problem). A perplexed Kashmir has welcomed this change in tune; this somewhat convoluted jumla comes close to the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s own vision  of na grenade se, na goli se, baat banegi boli sae (neither grenade nor bullet but dialogue is the only way out of Kashmir imbroglio.) The Hurriyat chairman, Mirwaiz  Umar Farooq, too, has made welcoming noises.   

The Prime Minister’s formulation carries with it a promise of a repudiation of all the policies and practices that have been sought to be operationalised in the last 16 months. It is also at odds with all the attempts that are being made to reopen the settled constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri public opinion is inclined to believe that these attempts have New Delhi’s backing and blessings.

Modi arrived in 2014 with a promise to re-invoke Atal Behari Vajpayee’s “humanity” formula. The PDP-BJP alliance promised to create political and psychological space for attempting something “out of the box.” Three years later the alliance has lost its political cohesion; the situation on the ground remains tense and tough, with the security forces achieving a kind of upper hand in dealing with the terrorists; the alienation remains intact as does the separatist constituency; and, the external world continues to be sceptical about our ability to tame the recalcitrant elements in the Valley. It is in this context that the Prime Minister has changed gears, just when all the indications would suggest that the ground was being prepared for a very hard and harsh treatment for the separatists and their militant wings. The Prime Minister’s olive branch must have confused all the Valley players — except the common Kashmiri who continues to pay a heavy price for the absence of any dialogue and conciliation.