Vohra in Valley, peace hopes soar

Two days after Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee announced a ‘‘new begining’’ in the Valley, the Centre’s latest Kashmir...

Two days after Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee announced a ‘‘new begining’’ in the Valley, the Centre’s latest Kashmir pointman N.N. Vohra arrived here today for talks.

Although Vohra is not the first interlocutor to try his luck in Kashmir, his mission is taking place in a conducive atmosphere. The PM’s reconciliatory effort to extend hand of friendship to Pakistan and call for negotiations to all has provoked a positive reaction from across the border. Then Mufti’s coalition is supportive of a dialogue process. This has provided Vohra with an atmosphere where his mission has gained credibility. And if he attempts to get separatists on board invites the Hurriyat and expands the ambit of the dialogue as envisaged by Vajpayee, his mission will amount to a ‘‘new begining’’ in Kashmir.

Kashmir’s interlocutors

• R K Mishra (Track II): Unofficial parleys with separatists failed.
• K C Pant (Official negotiator): Met separatist leader Shabir Shah; but made no headway.
• A S Dullat (Track II): Got Hurriyat on board but failed to break ice.
• Arun Jaitley (Official pointman): Mission ended with the defeat of Abdullahs in the Assembly polls last year.
• Ram Jethmalani (Track II): Set up Kashmir Committee. No breakthrough for want of official patronage.

Vohra’s week-long Kashmir trip had, however, been finalised even before the PM’s Srinagar journey. And if the aim and modus operandi of his mission that was publicised through an April 14 advertisement in Srinagar-based local newspapers have not changed, it seems destined to fail. According to the advertisement, he has come to meet the elected members of the state Assembly. But any ‘‘party or individual interested in the dialogue process’’ can approach him.

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In fact, the Hurriyat leadership too had reacted with indifference to Vohra’s mission after his plan was revealed. ‘‘He is coming to meet the so-called elected representatives. We don’t figure in that and then we don’t have any invitations as well,’’ former chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said here. Hurriyat chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat preferred to keep the conglomerate away from the Vohra mission.

Vohra’s modus operandi (as per his plans) was to wait for people to contact him rather than sending out invitations. This had put a question mark on the seriousness of the effort. ‘‘We hope, Vohra ji takes cue from the PM and pushes for getting the Hurriyat involved,’’ a senior PDP minister said. ‘‘He is here to discuss Kashmir problem on behalf of the Centre and he needs to invite people, especially those who have a problem,” he said.

The experiences of the previous official negotiators, who failed to break the ice here, clearly explain why there is there an urgent need for Vohra to change the modalities of his mission. Before Vohra, the Centre sent Planning Commission vice- chairman K.C. Pant. He managed to get separatist leader Shabir Shah on the negotiating table, other separatists leaders and groups stayed away. He ended up talking about unemployment, waiver of loans etc.

‘‘Vohra has found himself in a unique situation. Vajpayee’s visit has helped and if Vohra makes attempts to hold parleys with people whose participation matters, there is a chance for a breakthrough,’’ said Tahir Mohideen, editor of Srinagar-based weekly Chattan. ‘‘But if he wastes his time on politicians, who accept Kashmir to be a part of Indian Union, even the PM’s effort will go waste’’.