New J&K Governor fails to raise hopes in Srinagar

BJP general secretary and the party’s pointsman for Jammu and Kashmir, Ram Madhav, recently indicated that the new Governor would also act as an interlocutor, to kick off talks with all the stakeholders in the trouble-torn state.

Soon after he took over from Narinder Nath Vohra, who served the state as Governor for more than a decade, Satya Pal Malik pledged to engage with “alienated youth of Kashmir” and “building trust” between people of the state and rest of the country.

While the appointment of a new Governor has triggered many discussions and debates in political and media circles in new Delhi, not many stakeholders in Kashmir Valley seem overly enthused at the transition.

Senior Congress leader Prof. Saifuddin Soz says, “There is no doubt about Hurriyat leaders representing the anger of Kashmiri youth over the misdeeds of New Delhi in Kashmir. If the BJP government wants to initiate a dialogue process with the help of new Governor then it should start it by initiating dialogue with the Joint Resistance Leadership (a group of leaders comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik).”

“BJP government at the Centre appointed Dineshwar Sharma as its representative to talk with the stake-holders in Kashmir, almost a year ago. People and delegations met him but I recently heard in Delhi that despite seeking an appointment, Sharma has not been able to meet National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval so far, ” says Prof Soz.

“Being a seasoned politician Satya Pal Malik can win the confidence of people in Kashmir if he takes some Confidence Building Measures (CBM’s). As the head of the state he can replace the ongoing muscular policy by people friendly policies in Kashmir,” says Tahir Mohiddin, a senior journalist and editor of Urdu daily, Daily Chattan. He adds, “But I’ve my doubts if people in Kashmir will trust Mr. Malik as an interlocutor.”

Even though Malik is an old friend of former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, one of the senior party leaders, Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, holds a similar opinion. “Everybody knows that the Governor is BJP’s man in Kashmir and BJP is the party that has created havoc in every part of the country by its communal policies. I don’t think the new Governor will be trusted as an interlocutor in Kashmir,” NC leader says before adding, “If BJP is really serious about the dialogue process in Kashmir, then first of all, it must consider the reports and recommendations of former interlocutors and working groups on Kashmir.”

Many in Kashmir believe that BJP’s predictable ideological stand on Kashmir issue would not allow it to initiate a serious and sincere dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir.

Independent MLA, Engineer Rashid, also voices his doubts over the dialogue process. “On one hand BJP leaders pledge to scrap Article 370 and also support ongoing attempts to revoke Article 35A to merge this state into the rest of India and at the same time Ram Madhav talks about the possibility of the new Governor being an effective interlocutor for initiating the dialogue process,” Rashid says, wondering, “Do they want a dialogue on changing special constitutional status of the state as per their poll promise or they want a political resolution to the Kashmir problem?”

“The new Governor may be a great person with a huge (political) experience but I think Kashmir issue has reached a stage where it needs much more than mere appointments of interlocutors. Kashmir resolution demands serious, time bond and result oriented negotiations,” noted academician and chairperson of Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies, Professor Hameeda Nayeem says, asserting that “For fruitful negotiations some serious CBM’s like releasing of political prisoners, restoration of civil liberties and ending of the muscular policy, need to be taken.”

Clearly, BJP can not afford to soften its Kashmir policy at a time when Lok Sabha elections are nearing. Even if the party gives additional charge of an interlocutor to the new Governor, it cannot afford to give him the mandate beyond a certain limit.

Additionally, the new Governor will have to struggle with the deep trust deficit rooted in the troubled relationship between Kashmir and New Delhi.