A boost for the separatists
India’s handling of the NSA talks with Pakistan has given the Hurriyat leaders a fresh lease of life
Kashmiris were somewhat amused over the weekend to find out that separatist leaders from the Valley had become the ‘third party’ in India-Pakistan relations just because they agreed to attend a reception at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj expressly stated that while she asked Pakistan not to expand the agenda for the NSA talks beyond what was agreed upon in the joint statement at Ufa.
This is a surprising elevation of the status of the separatists given that the Centre questions the Hurriyat leaders’ claims about being the legitimate representatives of the people of Kashmir. New Delhi will look back on the NSA talks drama with a measure of regret about some of its outcomes. One would certainly be refreshing the brand of moderate Kashmiri separatists, just when their influence was seriously waning in the Valley. Although hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani remains popular in Kashmir, the influence of moderates like Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabir Shah has steadily waned owing to their failure to wrest concessions from the Centre, and allegations that they have made deals in the past with both Pakistan and India. In fact, the thing that surprised observers about the summer protests in 2010, where 120 youths were killed, is that they ensued without the organising support of moderate separatists. But last week’s drama over their arrest, release and detention again in order to prevent their meeting with Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz will have bolstered their standing in ways they themselves may not have imagined a few months ago.
Looking forward, the Centre must find a new approach to handle the separatists. They are likely to ramp up their activism, no doubt boosted by recent events. But resorting to frequent incarceration hurts India’s image and further alienates the Valley. It is a lot better if they are allowed to contest in the ‘battle of ideas’ that chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed endorses.