April-June 2013 - Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies

April-June 8
Commentary
J&K and the Indo-Pak Peace Process: New Delhi, Islamabad and the Hurriyat
Zainab Akhter
Research Officer, IReS, IPCS
After a prolonged ceasefire between India and Pakistan since
2004, the Line of Control (LoC) has recently witnessed a
violent outburst. Despite the continued bus and truck
services, hostility has returned to the LoC. In this regard, what
further measures can be pursued? Recently, the moderate
Hurriyat visited Pakistan; without the tacit understanding of
both countries, this visit could not have happened. Do they
provide a space for both countries to reach a plausible
solution?
Before embarking on the visit on 17 December 2012, the head
of the moderate Hurriyat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, stated the
purpose of the initiative was to stress on Islamabad, the need
to bring Kashmir and the Hurriyat to the forefront of its
political engagement with India.
India, Pakistan and the Hurriyat: Differing Strategies
Both India and Pakistan were flexible in terms of allowing the
visit of the moderate Hurriyat to Pakistan. At the time, one of
the reasons given for such a strategy was that both countries
will face general elections in 2014 and thus have a motive to
sell something to their people, for which the moderates serve
the purpose.
Over many decades, successive governments in Islamabad
have treated Kashmir as a bilateral issue and as such explored
the possibility of settling the issue through the process of
dialogue with New Delhi. Post the visit, the statement by the
Hurriyat (M) that Pakistan is in favour of making Kashmir a
trilateral matter by involving a representative of the people
from Kashmir, has set all eyes on New Delhi to see whether the
Congress-led UPA Government would support the trilateral
process of dialogue or not. If Delhi supports triangular talks, it
means that the Hurriyat Conference leaders, as well as others
who are on the other side of the fence, should expect an
invitation from the Government of India for talks.
Within J&K, a section believes that India has succeeded to a
degree, in taking the moderate Hurriyat on board in its “plan
to weaken” the Kashmiri resistance movement. They are of
the opinion that because of its weak position at the centre,
the Congress wants to play the Kashmir card. This time, having
the Hurriyat on board, would be with the objective to win
Indian voters; who want peace to prevail so that the pace of
economic prosperity continues. Hence, in a way, this is one
more exercise to keep the “pot boiling” and the Kashmir issue
“alive”.
the lone survivor of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was secretly
hanged in Pune.
The invitation by Pakistan to the Hurriyat could be understood
in two different ways. Firstly, Pakistan might be trying to give
an impression that they have not ignored the Kashmir issue;
and secondly, that they are trying to take the local leadership
in Kashmir into consideration. But, does the present stand-off
at the LoC imply a complete deviation from the above
strategy?
The Hurriyat used the visit to convey their dissatisfaction with
both India and Pakistan. Taking part in a discussion at the
Institute of Strategic Studies of Islamabad (ISSI), the
moderates stressed that though intra-Kashmir Confidence
Building Measures (CBMs) need to be strengthened, the
people of Kashmir should also have a say in this regard. They
urged Pakistan to give unconditional support to the people of
Kashmir in determining their futures and were of the view
that an alternative settlement negotiated amongst India,
Pakistan and Kashmiris would be the more doable approach
towards reaching a solution. The need for channelizing
Pakistan's support into policy was also brought forward by the
Hurriyat.
What Next?
Can India and Pakistan channel the Hurriyat visit to instigate
CBMs? Mirwaiz termed the visit as successful and is in favour
of CBMs between India and Pakistan, to address the Kashmir
issue. All separatist factions need to be accommodated and
must be involved in the political process. New Delhi should
invite them for talks since, given the current crisis across the
LoC on the disruption of the ceasefire agreement, New Delhi
will have to restart the peace process, both at the bilateral
level, as also within India vis-à-vis the Hurriyat.
For Pakistan, the issue of Kashmir may indeed be popular; but
according to a report in Dawn, listing Kashmir as the core issue
in any negotiation with India after the 2008 Mumbai terror
attacks does not suit Pakistan. It further says that Kashmir is
no more a priority for Pakistan and that the Pakistan
government has remained over-cautious after Ajmal Kasab,