National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal has done  it again. Interlocutors, he thinks, are creating confusion by directly meeting people rather than their representatives.  He also makes a fresh pitch for the NC's autonomy proposal for the state, saying it has ''history and context'' and the backing of a two-third majority in the Assembly. The fresh salvo at  the interlocutors has come after Kamal's earlier diatribe against them in November. He called them strangers and unknown faces who were no match to the complexity of resolving Kashmir. Kamal also raised the larger troubling questions about the settlement of Kashmir saying 1975 accord between National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah and New Delhi never happened as Congress subsequently withdrew support to Sheikh led government in 1977. However, Kamal's main target has been the three member group of interlocutors.  In this, Kamal has almost echoed the separatist line on them. While the motivations of the legislator to say what he has are difficult to pin down, his comments have resonated with a large section of the opinion. That interlocutors appear small before the gigantic magnitude of the Kashmir problem. And that their method of going about finding a solution appears beaten and unhelpful. That there ought to be a difference between acting to resolve a problem and making a renewed effort to understand it.  That engagement of the separatists should have been the negotiators' first priority - however Kamal would certainly have reservations about  this. On the other hand, the interlocutors would certainly not want to be so absolutely judged at the initial stage of their onerous assignment. In the three months that they have been active in the state, they have held numerous meetings with the leaders, activists and social organizations and also met a cross-section of the people in all the three regions of the state. Their policy on engaging the separatists is that a productive engagement with them is not possible if the latter do not believe in the exercise. As for the rest of the political class is concerned, they have been meeting them on a regular basis. What, however, Kamal feels so upset about is the negotiators meeting ordinary people. But this shouldn't be such a great cause for worry. True, it is inherently difficult to make an assessment based on meetings with a few people in the three regions of the state but the interlocutors will certainly see it as a complement  to their ongoing effort to understand Kashmir and formulate a framework for solution, however far-fetched that may seem at this point. Some people, however, may have problem when interlocutors start talking about the lack of  civic amenities, roads, education infrastructure and health facilities as this is not what they are supposed to do in the first place. People in every part of the country would complain about these
 things if they are talked to. Besides, this will be a far too simplistic way to go about their business when the mandate is supposed to be the political resolution of Kashmir. And Kamal, of course, would be right in voicing his dissent on this score. However, as  far as the autonomy part of his argument is concerned, it is Kamal who will be guilty of trying to circumscribe the mandate of  the interlocutors. For, there is a whole array of 'mainstream' Kashmir solutions doing the rounds in the state, besides the absolutist demand for secession from the separatists to make it a plausible goal.  The interlocutors who are already on their third visit to the state will, however, be well aware of the growing complexity of their role. By now, they have a lot of groundwork to their credit but it will be only a matter of time before there will be a clamour for some outcome of this effort. And success of their initiative would be in not being found wanting at the time.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST