Valley reaped fruits of the peace seed sown by former PM

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 Kashmiri separatists in January 2004 while Pakistan put its insistence on the implementation of UN resolution for a plebiscite on the backburner.

Vajpayee’s vision for resolving the problems in Kashmir within the framework of insaaniyat, (humanism) Kashmiryat (inclusive Kashmiri culture) and jhamooriyat (democracy) remains his abiding legacy. It won him accolades from separatists and mainstream politicians alike.

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

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

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