The reason is that the leaders of the so-called mainstream parties have shown no inclination to play by the rules set by the centre which probably expected a resigned acceptance of the status quo as a fait accompli. Instead, the parties, which have formed a six-member alliance, intend not only to roll back the clock to the pre-August 5, 2019, days.

The first step in this reverse direction is to reject the tricolour unless the Kashmir’s own flag is also unfurled, as the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Mehbooba Mufit has said. It is not unlikely that she will also want a return to the days when Kashmir had its own constitution and “prime minister” who was called sadar-i-riyasat.

What this turn of events underlines is a hardening of positions by the PDP in response to the BJP’s own hardline approach to the issue demonstrated by the abrogation of Article 370 which conferred a special status on the former state, which is now a Union territory.

In this kante ki takkar or a clash of thorns, there are no immediate winners. The BJP cannot put Mufti and other “offenders” back in jail again so soon after their release as the party’s chief in the Union territory has demanded since the international repercussions are bound to be unfavourable.

But the Kashmiri parties, too, have put themselves in a bind for they are leaving themselves no options other than a restoration of status quo ante. But how are they to attain it without creating large-scale disturbances which will play into the centre’s hands by enabling it to crack down all over again with a measure of outside support if there is widespread violence.

What was needed, therefore, was for the senior leaders like the National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and Mufti to show statesmanship and move with circumspection. This was not the time to fly off the handle by soliciting China’s help, as Farooq Abdullah has done, or declining to raise the national flag. Equally uncalled for was Mufti’s declaration not to contest elections till Kashmir’s special status was restored.

However disheartened and angry these leaders may be over the acts of the “dacoits” of Delhi, to quote Mufti, there is no way out to resolve the issue except through elections. After all, the Kashmiri politicians cannot expect to wage and win a war against India.

Their other problem is that Pakistan’s clandestine involvement in Kashmir will enable Delhi to brand any uprising as terrorism. As the minister of state in the PMO, Jitendra Singh, has already said, these leaders are as dangerous as the separatists.

The need for statesmanship by all the stakeholders is all the greater because of the reports that an increasing number of locals are joining the ranks of the militants. If Mufti and others raise the pitch by calling upon the youth to shed blood, it will be back to the days of stone-pelting and army action.

In an interview, Omar Abdullah took a sober line by favouring a constitutional path, including waiting for the Supreme Court’s judgment. His father, too, has emphasized that the six parties are anti-BJP, not anti-national. It is time for the others in the alliance like Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference and Yousuf Tarigami of the CPI(M) to speak up and not let Mufti set a rather aggressive tone.

The Congress also has a role to play. It is unclear whether P. Chidambaram was speaking for the party when he supported the Kashmiri alliance’s position on the centre’s denial of the Union territory’s special status. Since the Congress is one of the six parties in the valley, it can be assumed that it will involve itself more openly with the group’s decisions.

It will be a pity, however, if the alliance suffered a rupture between hawks like Mufti and the moderates favouring a legal route. Nothing will serve their opponents better than a replay of the earlier division between the National Conference, the PDP and others on one side and the separatist Hurriyat Conference on the other.

Kashmir, once the favourite destination of Bollywood for shooting romantic scenes, has lost its sobriquet of being a heaven on earth. Pakistan’s sponsoring of a proxy war and the influence which its terror tactics has had on a section of the local youths, coupled with the centre’s heavy-handed approach, robbed the valley of its peace.

But it now has an opportunity under a responsible leadership to find its way back to the mainstream via elections. Irrespective of any tweaking of the demographic profile of the constituencies, the alliance – if it remains united – has a fair chance of being electorally successful and challenging the status quo. (IPA Service)