We are   a complacent people. We  tend to work only when we are forced to. We have moulded our mindset in such a  way  that when things go smooth, we lull ourselves into self-belief as  if the world would stay that  way  for ever. 
We, the people in Jammu and Kashmir  love to live  our life, the way we want. In fact, these are “good times”, the violence  in the state is all time low. Economy is  showing signs of recovery, with tourist  arrivals touching all time high. In short, this is a very good  summer  for Kashmir.  So then, why waste  time  wondering what would happen next,  or  make an effort to  secure something more positive for the  future.   
So it’s the time to talk, and talk big.  There are few who have the idea of history, they are sharing their experiences  with their friends and foes to tell those parts of the gone by era, when many  of us were not even born; others are relishing their achievements in the past, when they were in the government at the Centre or the state, and  then there are sparks  of brilliance by  some to connect with different ages, saying that the age-old promise has not been forgotten and at the same time telling  their middle-aged counterparts and the younger generation that they were  as good  as others  who speak for the resolution of Kashmir crisis. 
If Chief Minister Omar Abdullah  tried to strike a new chord with the people on July 7, when he said : “K-issue is not the issue of money or gun but a political one and parliament, assembly or panchayats polls are not answer to the resolution of political issues of Jammu and Kashmir, he was  repeating the statements that he had made in the presence of Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in October 2009.  It was a sort of reminder  of his  stand, which he had articulated in  October last year on the floor of the state legislative Assembly  in Srinagar  that “ J&K had not merged with India”.
“Its genesis is linked with New Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan…the resolution of political issues of J-K is a human duty to be rendered to seek permanent peace and prosperity in the sub-continent,”  he had said at  Sumbal  in Bandipore  in the Kashmir Valley. It was interesting  because the times were different  this than when he had made  an earth shattering speech in the Assembly, raising questions on the  relationship of Jammu and Kashmir with rest of country. His thesis, this time of  neither money nor gun, was a perfectly chosen phrase, positioning himself,  equidistant  from New Delhi and Islamabad. The money part was  from New Delhi, because the Central Government has been pumping money for all sorts of investment in Kashmir, development, generating employment, training youth and setting up opportunities for the people of the Valley, and at the same time New Delhi has been sending high spending tourists  to Kashmir. Even the increased presence of the security forces  than the pre-militancy days, has greatly contributed to the day to day economy, with soldiers and troopers spending part of their salaries on  shopping for their  families and  most of  the army supply contracts from fresh vegetables to  mutton are with the locals. The local contractors benefit from the construction activity of the  army under its “ Sadhbhavana “ programmes. 
The guns, on the other hand, have a definite source. There is no denying the fact that gun culture in Kashmir was introduced by Pakistan. This  is a globally known fact and there is no need  for one to be a rocket scientist to   conclude, who armed the militants in Kashmir.  This  story is  going on, and the infiltration from across the border offers the best evidence. That apart, there is story of another gun. Chief Minister must have been hinting at that too. The guns which were inducted to raise the counter-insurgency forces in the Valley. In any  conflict situations, such  forces surface and Kashmir is no exception. 
Essentially, the Chief Minister  was referring to  the  people of Jammu and Kashmir. To my mind, the term Jammu and Kashmir is more vague than ever  before. We are in habit of reading Kashmir for the whole of the state, and at times Jammu and Kashmir’s definition is reduced to the Valley. It is with this contradictions that the people in the state, be they in Jammu, Ladakh or Kashmir Valley  have been living all along. But political leaders are clever, they use J&K, sometimes for the whole state on this side of the LoC, on other occasions,, on other occasions, they include  areas under the control of Pakistan and  few separatists are now talking of involving China because Pakistan has  gifted  a huge chunk of land to Beijing. 
Omar’s predecessor  and political veteran  Mufti Muhammad Sayeed  spoke almost similar thing but with  a sharp focus on the inclusion of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the roadmap making process. His exact words :   “ the  involvement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was must while formulating any roadmap for the resolution of Kashmir issue.”
“We welcome  the positive beginning made by Indo-Pak foreign secretaries and the leadership of both the countries will have to show political will to resolve the issue”, he said while addressing a public meeting at Mendhar 
 He, however, cautioned that” sustainable peace in this region was not possible without involvement of people of Jammu and Kashmir in the process of solving the vexed Kashmir problem..” 
True,  but  a question may be asked, how many times the  peoples of all the three regions have been consulted on a single platform  to evolve a consensus  before talking of  their involvement in the resolution process. 
  PCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz, to be fair to him, has been talking of  speaking  in one voice  on the issue before Delhi. I think  separatists should recognise these realities. There were times, when they were  urged to join the dialogue process by Delhi,  or to put it more candidly,  Delhi made desperate efforts to get them on board. There were overt and covert  attempts. Those days  there was one  Hurriyat Conference,. Now t is unrecognizable. There are two known groups, some men walking independent line, others having groups within these two groups, better known as moderates and  hardliners. 
New Delhi  believes that it has done enough. No more of pampering. From the request  or appeal for dialogue, it asked them to join the talks.  The urgings got  transformed into  demand and, if we view it honestly and frankly, the separatists are  being told to  come and sit across the table. The tone of appeal has disappeared almost completely. And whenever the separatists ask, dialogue with whom, the direction arrow  is pointed toward  three interlocutors, regular visitors to the Kashmir Valley since October last year.
It is time for all to shed the complacency  that things  would work somehow, and  read writing on the wall: it is time to move ahead in a positive manner.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST