When three-member panel of interlocutors headed by noted journalist Dilip Padgaonkar was appointed by the central government to ambitiously attempt to address the internal dimension of the problem in Kashmir, there was disappointment in the state. The panel was seen as low-key in its profile and hence unequal to the challenge at hand. Through their year-long efforts in the state, interlocutors did little to dispel this impression. However, when they presented their report and it appeared through the selective leaks in the press that they had at least dabbled in some of the political vocabulary that have come to frame the search for Kashmir solution, many people  seemed to attach a degree of seriousness to the effort. However, it has been several months since the report was presented to the government and let alone a follow-up action, the government has baulked at making the report public. Now there is the talk of Ministry of Home Affairs deciding to upload the report on its official website in addition to placing five copies in the Parliament House library. However, even home minister P Chidambaram is unable to confirm when Cabinet Committee on Security would find time to deliberate on the report.  “I wish I knew as to when will the CCS meet on these issues,” was his candid response to the question. Now when the report is made public, will anything change? Will government take steps towards its implementation. It looks very unlikely. And that too despite the fact that the interlocutors have tried hard to steer clear of suggesting any radical re-adjustment of Kashmir’s relationship with New Delhi. This approach to Kashmir is of a piece with the traditional practice on the state. And it is this approach which has made the people in the state cynical of the centre’s successive initiatives on the state. People are inclined to suspect that the centre’s political initiatives on the state are only an ad hoc measure to respond to a specific situation in Kashmir, almost an end in themselves. But this can change if centre exhibits due seriousness this time and takes concrete steps to implement the report. Not doing so will come as another severe blow to the credibility of the centre’s efforts to address Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 IST