He saw gun was no solution in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Atal Bihari Vajpayee is remembered in Kashmir for his April 2003 speech in Srinagar in which he extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan. He reiterated the gun was no solution and went on to resume a composite dialogue process with Pakistan.

Kashmir reaped its peace dividend for the next decade with a decline in militant violence. A ceasefire along the Line of Control was agreed upon in November 2003 and largely observed. Cross-border bus services and trade was introduced between two sides of Kashmir. Vajpayee met separatists in January 2004 while Pakistan put its insistence on the implementation of UN resolution for a plebiscite on the backburner. His vision for resolving the problems in Kashmir within the framework of insaaniyat, (humanism) Kashmiryat (inclusive Kashmiri culture) and jhamooriyat (democracy) remains his abiding legacy.

For separatist leader Abdul Gani Bhat, Vajpayee rose “above everything in choosing to address the Kashmir issue.’’ Bhat believes things “would have been different” had not Vajpayee lost elections in 2004.

Former Central University of Kashmir dean Noor Baba said Vajpayee was ready to take a difficult path. “He had the clarity and had reached that maturity to realise that India has to make peace with Pakistan.”

Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed ur Rehman said Vajpayee “won hearts of Kashmiris” because he conveyed to them that they “are owners of the Valley.’’

CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yusuf Taragami said the first unilateral ceasefire during the fasting month of Ramzan was observed under Vajpayee’s rule in 2000.

Congress leader Saifudin Soz said Vajpayee was always interested in solutions.

In 2001, I had gone to 7 Race Course Road with a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media team to record a speech by the Prime Minister, and I got the opportunity of being introduced to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the grandson of Lal Bahadur Shastri. With a straight face, Atal ji said: “He cannot be Shastriji’s grandson”. Then came the typical Atalji pause that made me more nervous. He smiled and said: “You are taller than Shastriji”. We all broke into laughter. When I met him for the second time, he remembered me and said, “You look a bit like Shastriji” and added: “Looks can come but what is important to have is Shastriji’s mild manner and strong character. He was a true son of the soil”. Those words still ring in my ears.

Shastriji’s family and nation are indebted to Atalji and his government because after Shastriji’s death in 1966, the family always wanted 1 Moti Lal Nehru Place (the house where he lived in as prime minister) to be converted into a national memorial. My grandmother, Lalita Shastri, had requested previous governments, but the request always remained confined to files. I recall reading in a national daily that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would not convert former leaders’ residences into memorials. I informed my mother and made her speak to senior BJP leader L K Advani. On the same evening, a cabinet meeting took place and I learnt that Atalji had said an exception should be made for Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Atalji was popularly known as Baapji by many of us. In a true sense, he reflected that quality. I recall that in 2006, on an important issue, a press conference took place at 6A Krishna Menon Marg. Being the national media convenor, I had to organise the conference followed by lunch. Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha addressed the press. Later,