Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered nothing new during his two-day visit of Kashmir last week. That’s how every one in  Kashmir, barring, of course, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who received a pat  by the Prime Minister, seems to have read the visit. Singh is back in Delhi , grappling with the problems of fallout of  verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, his own equations with his ministerial colleagues. He has many things to do, and his obsession to resolve all the issues all at once   is causing more harm than good to him. 
It is important here to note that  Manmohaan Singh has limitless ambitions . He has the intention to resolve the Kashmir issue, open dialogue with Pakistan, accommodate the international concerns and   walk  many, many extra miles. But  he is not his own self. Each time, Prime Minister visits Kashmir, it becomes more and more glaring that he is inhibited by something. He appears to be a  personality who doesn’t have the full control over all the affairs of the state. His expressions are restricted. His body language says it all more than what he says, actually. 
The visit of June7-8 was  deemed to be significant because of two reasons. One,  there was a hue and cry in the Valley over the fake encounters and the innocents killed in  them.  This looked like a pattern taking shape, instead of something isolated happening at an isolated place, far from the world view . It were not  merely the separatists , moderates  or hardliners, who were looking forward to something from Prime Minister of the largest democracy, there was an air of anticipation among the common people. They  had the right  to their own life, property, privacy and freedom to move without any fear, and they wanted that to be restored to them  by taking out the alien elements who had come to define  an all time imposing authority on them, governing their life styles. 
Pakistan, too, was waiting and watching Indian Prime Minister’s Kashmir visit. Pakistanis are aware that the visit of Indian Prime Minister to Kashmir is  having  much  wider  dimension  than Pakistani Prime Minister visiting Pakistani administered  Kashmir, which is called “ Azad Kashmir,” too.  That Pakistan is a stake holder in Kashmir, is a fact that cannot be ignored. Viewed from any angle- rightists in India   who want the state to be  reunited on both sides of the Line of Control  and  become an integral part of India. The rightists in Pakistan want it other way round. They want the  state to be reunited  and become part of Pakistan. Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of the Partition for them. 
Then there are other views; united but independent Jammu and Kashmir , others who  declare themselves as more realists call for the status quo and  bring I n former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula  into picture.  It is needless to repeat here that these are competing  formulas and ambitions of the people and parties on either side of border. 
Having said that, the  fact was that Prime Minister was expected to say something, give direction to the internal dialogue and  that of talks with Pakistan . No place would have been better for him than the Valley itself.  He did say something.  After having spelled out  his best intentions to broaden the scope of cross –LoC trade and travel, Prime  Minister said: “there are a handful of people who do not want any political process for empowering people to succeed. This is the reason that attempts to disturb the lives of the people in the valley still continue from across the line of control.” 
It was  to suggest as if the  whole problem in  Kashmir, even after 20 years of continuous military fight with the insurgents, is only because of “ attempts from across the LoC.” The Prime Minister is privy to many things which the lesser mortals never come to know.  And, on the issue of the  spate of the staged shootouts that have claimed innocent lives and  embedded a feeling of fear among the people, mostly in the countryside, the Prime Minister  attributed those to the   across – LoC sponsored  incidents. “  Whenever such incidents happen, they spread terror and cause disruption in the life of people. Our security agencies are forced to act in the wake of such incidents. During the process sometimes innocent civilians have to suffer, but whenever such incidents happen it becomes necessary to act against those responsible for them. I am aware of some complaints related to human rights. On this issue, the Government policy is to protect the human rights of the people even when dealing with terrorism. The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have been strictly instructed to respect the rights of the civilians. We will act to remove any deficiency in the implementation of these instructions.” 
Then he went  on to appeal : “I would like to say to our neighbours across the line of control that they should help in creating an environment in which people from both the sides can live in peace and harmony and work together. Our issues with Pakistan are well known. Good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan are in the interest of both the countries. At the same time they are necessary for peace and harmony, stability and development our region.”
Prime Minister then  turned the pages of calendar to 26/11 Mumbai attacks  and  recalled his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Yousuf Raza Gilani  at Thimphu  and how the two agreed to attack the trust deficit that existed between the teo countries . “Both the countries accepted that there is a trust deficit between us. We also agreed that this distance between the two countries must be reduced. “ 
But the quiet that followed Dr. Singh’s visit suggested that  there was a disquiet  among the people and they didn’t want to give an expression to that. This could be  a reflection of  cynicism with which the Kashmiris are charged with many  a times. It could also be  reconciliation   to the hard times as long as they last. 
Now it turns out that  the Indian ministers who would be visiting Pakistan would not be discussing anything substantive with the leaders of the neighbhouring country . The word substantive here means: Kashmir. This attitude of shying away from discussing Kashmir  with Pakistan, reflects double latch approach – no dialogue with Kashmiri separatists and no  talks with Pakistan on Kashmir. Then how the ties with Pakistan will improve and how a progress would be made in this direction. No one seems to be knowing. 
An attitude of this kind  toward the people of the state, and Pakistan , can be counter productive. The hope must live on, if that’s snatched  that breeds frustration. And frustration  causes  anger and that anger becomes uncontrollable. This is a lesson from all the conflict areas and Kashmir continues to be one. It is the conflict in Kashmir that has made India to have its hard power there.  Troops  have to be requisitioned  for hosting  events and visits. This situation  cannot be wished away by  the often repeated phrases. The call of the time is  to step forward and hold the hands of the people of Kashmir and  Pakistan  to change the landscape of the subcontinent.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST