‘They (Hurriyat) want a signal from PM…there is a thaw ’

Do you welcome it?
Of course I welcome it. It has been our main thrust before and after the elections. The Congress, our partner, is also for it. It was the Congress which had held talks with Sheikh Saheb, with Longowal, and in Assam. I spoke to Soniaji and to Manmohan Singh. It has been the Congress stand that the Government should talk to all sections. We want to address the internal dimension (of the problem). Kuch na kuch initiative hoga.

By the PM?
I think so.

What do you attribute this change (in the Hurriyat) to?
This is a realistic approach. There is a change in the situation, in people’s thinking. There is a thaw. The peace process is going on. It is a favourable situation. Strike when the iron is hot. The Indo-Pak normalisation is going on slow and steady. It was a Kashmiri boy who first got a visa to go to Pakistan on the bus to Lahore last week.

And on the other side there is baby Noor Fatima…
That’s something great. I don’t know whose idea it was that she should come to India for treatment. She could have gone to London. The Pakistanis have a fascination for Europe. Obviously Idhar ka raasta dikhaya signal daene ke liye.

This is the first time that such a large trade delegation has come from Pakistan. Then there is the initiative of Maulana Fazlur Rahman, jisne wahan neend haram kar dee thee. All this cannot go on without the consent of the authorities there (in Pakistan). But there is little hype this time. Both countries have realised that we must approach it step by step. The Prime Minister said in Srinagar that we have to take note of what happened in Iraq. In other words, Aapas maen rishte theek karo. And that has a big implication for Kashmir. Our task is made easier. You can’t get very far with only statements, people see what is happening around them.

Are you in touch with the Hurriyat leaders?
Not directly. There’s been no one-to-one meeting. But I am aware of their thinking.

Are you hopeful about the latest initiative?
At least we are not groping in the dark. Movement ho raha hai.

What is the role of the National Conference?
I feel they are still not reconciled to the change of guard, having lost the elections. They say something one day, another thing the next day. Political parties have to accept the people’s verdict. After all, no one has the monopoly of power.

How do you see their decision to pull out of the NDA?
They are trying to recover lost ground. They are within their rights to do it. But the question is one of credibility. You should be consistent in your stand. I don’t think people take them seriously. They are the ones who used to say, what is this Hurriyat, what is this Pakistan, and aar paar ki ladai hone do. People understand it’s (what they are doing) mere opportunism. Whenever the Government would take a peace initiative, they would react sharply, til milate thae.

I told Farooq and Omar tha I had no enemity with Sheikh Saheb, and that they must expose and oppose the Government. A vibrant and active NC is good for the state.

The NC has said that you have got a bigger financial package from the Centre than they ever got, even though they were part of the ruling alliance…
It is not that I came running to Delhi the day after I took power. I did not come here for two months. I decided I must first spend what is in our treasury. I travelled to all the districts. Unspent money was there. The Central money had not been utilised.

Diversion of funds was taking place. You know Rs 5.5 crores was spent on this house (J&K House on Prithviraj Road, New Delhi). The earlier house puranae zamane ka thaa, it could have been a heritage house. Rs 25 crores had been envisaged for the CM’s house in Srinagar, and Rs 1.25 had been spent on it. I said stop it.

It is only when the Centre saw that here was a government responsive and starting to implement schemes, and had made people accountable, that it decided to give us the financial package. Pehle bhi koi kaam nahin hua hai. We fully utilised the funds that were there.

Omar Abdullah has called for third party mediation?
According to me, it is positioning on their part. As I said, the Hurriyat are willing to talk, and we have to address the internal dimension of the problem. With Pakistan, we will have country to country talks.

Are you for third party mediation. Hurriyat chief Maulana Abbas Ansari talked about the possibility of mediation by Iran or Nelson Mandela?
No, I am not for third party mediation. Both countries are competent to address their disputes. There is no need for a headmaster. It is a non-issue.

What is responsible for the winds of change blowing in Kashmir?
Kashmir has bled much. The momentum for the change has been created by the people. People are the fountainhead of everything. They desire peace, it is their paramount concern today. They want peace with dignity, and they want dialogue. The Prime Minister’s initiative has helped.

And you are the beneficiary of it?
I had been saying for sometime that the mood was changing. I told you about it before the elections. But none of you took me seriously then.

A lot of people are suddenly going to Kashmir?
Yes, the Prime Minister came, Sonia Gandhi came. Three hundred MPs have come in the last month for various committee meetings. The Inter State Council was held there. Bollywood is coming. Kisi ka seminar hai aur kisi ki conference. Tourists are coming in large numbers from everywhere. I feel apni khoyi hui cheeze jo pyari hoti hai, usko koi pa laeta hai, tho bahut khushi hoti hai. That is the reaction of the tourist. He gets the feeling, this is my land and I am safe here, and there is no end to his happiness. That gives me pleasure.

Sometimes it’s embarrassing for me. People say, Mufti saheb kamaal ho gaya. But I know there are so many other factors responsible for it.

You forgot to mention the President’s visit?
Jawabh nahin thaa unka. You know he walked two-and-a-half km to Vaishno Devi, interacting with the yatris on the way. Everywhere he told people to have a vision and not get stuck in small things. At one school he told his whole story, how as a child he would wake up at 4 am and work, how his mother would save small quantities of kerosene for him to study, how he became a vegetarian because vegetarian food was Rs 30 per month and non-veg food cost Rs 50 which he could not afford. At the Women’s College, and at the schools he visited, at the end of the programme, the students sang the national anthem.

Is this a new thing?
Yes, the national anthem would be played at the functions of the army and the police but at the people’s level I saw it after a long time. I liked it.

What are you doing about the generation of employment?
Our education infrastructure has really deteriorated. We have now made English compulsory from Class I. Admissions to schools will be made at the age of 4, not 6. We have 11,000 primary schools and we are appointing teachers to teach English.

We are opening new schools and upgrading existing ones. We are giving importance to education. Secondly there was a freeze on the appointment of doctors, engineers and agricultural graduates. We are appointing them on contract.

Then there are the self employment schemes. But the instant and multiplier effect is of tourism. It affects hotels, houseboats, taxis, ponywallahs, shopkeepers. With tourists coming, it is changing the climate in the state.

Eyebrows were raised when Yasin Malik was arrested on the day that the Hurriyat chief made soft noises about talks?
I am told that that the Supreme Court insisted on his presence. It was a technical reason and not in anybody’s hands.

What next, Mufti Saheb?
The way I see the mahaul developing, I would like to bring paradise back to Kashmir.