Secret meetings with the Hurriyat leaders are said to have taken place with the Centre now depending more on front door diplomacy rather than the backchannel. Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra, PMO and the Home Ministry are working in tandem to get the Kashmir players active.

The signals emanating form Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram show that something is cooking on the Kashmir front. For instance, Singh said during his recent visit to Kashmir that he favoured “pragmatic” political solutions to the Kashmir problem. Union home minister P Chidambaram admitted in Srinagar recently that the Central Government was working 'on quiet diplomacy' in Kashmir.

Many Kashmir watchers point out that as a result, some good signals are emanating from the valley with the political parties softening their stand. On negotiations. The first good thing is a statement made by the Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Bhatt. He not only shared a platform with the ruling National Conference and the PDP at a conference organised by the Centre for the study of developing societies, but also invited them to join a cross party dialogue on Kashmir. All including the opposition leader and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti welcomes this. But his other partners like Mirwaiz Farooq do not support Bhatt's position that they should share a table. They do not want to include PDP and NC until they shun power and concentrate on resolving the ticklish Kashmir problem. In fact, most of the political parties in the state are positioning themselves to suit their interests.

The second welcome signal has come from Mehbooba Mufti. She was recently in Delhi and took a softer stand on Kashmir. She said that things were normal in the state and the Centre should go for demilitarisation. She wanted all the players to sit and find a solution. Mehbooba refrained from criticising Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in her various interactions with the press.

Why are these leaders changing their tunes? As far as Hurriyat is concerned, they have to show that they are doing some thing. Resuming negotiations will keep their supporters quiet. The Hurriyat supporters are said to have reached the end of their patience that their leaders had not been able to do anything for them. With a stable government at the Centre and in the state, they are in a shaky position and compelled to show that they are relevant.

For the PDP also, also it is a similar problem. Now that there is a stable government in the state and the party is nowhere at the Centre, Mehbooba also has to keep her flock together for the next four and a half years. What better way to show her people that the PDP would be an important player in the resolution of Kashmir problem? She is talking of a joint council and joint responsibility. The PDP has launched a mass support programme for their self-rule concept. She talks of demilitarisation of the state, opening up of the Line of Control for free movement of people from both sides and an elected body consisting of all regions including the POK. The PDP also wants Geelani to be included in the negotiations.

For the Centre this is a good time to restart negotiations, as the climate is peaceful and ripe for a forward movement. Pakistan is in a terrible mess but at the same the Pakistan government would not mind a forward movement in peace talks. Although they would not like things to go out of their hands, they would not stop the Hurriyat from talking to the government. Former Pakistan President Gen Musharraf himself had talked of a four-point formula for the resolution of Kashmir two years ago. The first was to resume dialogue at the highest level, the second was an agreement on the centrality of Kashmir, the third was to eliminate all formulas not acceptable to both sides and the last step was the discussion on the actual solution.

What should be the government's strategy? The first thing is to do things quietly using the back channel diplomacy and front door diplomacy. The Home Minister himself is supervising this strategy. The second is to get the players to the table. The third is to let them talk and find out what they want; and the final step is to sit down for actual negotiations. If the Kashmir managers succeed even 60 per cent in this endeavour, it will produce some results.

All the stakeholders including the government should sit down to talk with an open mind for an effective solution. Before that the atmosphere in the state should be made favourable for negotiations and the People of Kashmir should feel that they have confidence in the state government and also in Delhi.

The people of Kashmir deserve peace and every effort should be made to ensure that they get it. (IPA Service)