|
NATION:
KASHMIR
Devil's
Dilemma
Hizb's
Kashmir chief Abdul Majeed Dar's fresh peace overture uncloaks his surging
political aspirations as also an apparent schism in the militant outfit
By
Ramesh Vinayak
 |
| Hizb
commanders (bearded) surrender after the cease-fire failed |
On
August 22, a day after Brigadier B.S. Shergill and Colonel Rajender Chauhan
were killed in a blast in Kupwara, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's chief commander
in the Valley, Abdul Majeed Dar, broke his silence. After the failure
of cease-fire, he hinted at another truce. "Hizb will again call
for a cease-fire within the next two months because the dialogue with
Delhi needs to begin, keeping in view the people's wishes and aspirations,"
he said.
Dar's renewed
conciliatory gesture apparently caught the militant outfit's Pakistan-entrenched
leadership off-guard. Within 24 hours of the overture came a strongly
worded denial by Islamabad-based Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin. His deputy
had been misquoted, Salahuddin said. This seemed odd since Dar always
claimed he was in constant touch with his boss. The signs of an emerging
rift between Hizb's top commanders on either side of the Line of Control
portend a split in the Hizb-ul ranks sooner than later, according to security
officials in Srinagar.
After his
peace gambit was spiked by Salahuddin under pressure from Pakistan, Dar
has been busy mustering support from the Hizb commanders for a "political
route", touting it as a tactical move in the course of the secessionist
struggle. Well-placed sources say Dar's immediate compulsion to pick up
the threads stems from his desire to don political hues. That Dar is angling
for a political slot is an open secret. Officials monitoring the Hizb
antics believe that Dar's attempts to give a political face to the Hizb
by initially agreeing to a cease-fire may have had the tacit support of
the Pakistan-based leadership.
While Salahuddin
can't afford to sever ties with Pakistan and forego the militant course,
Dar has no such binding and can manoeuvre a course that gels well with
ground realities in Kashmir. To that extent, the rift between Salahuddin
and Dar may only be a ploy to convince Pakistan that the Hizb is committed
to an armed struggle till India agrees to a tripartite dialogue. Aware
of Pakistan's insistence and India's aversion to tripartite talks, Dar
is favouring a dialogue with the Centre on the premise that Pakistan will
be involved at a later stage. He is banking heavily on the public groundswell
for peace and the craving for reprieve among the badly mauled Hizb cadres.
These were the factors which in the first place had convinced Dar and
Salahuddin to declare a unilateral and unconditional cease-fire, until
Pakistan, wary of being left out, scuttled the move.
However,
under Pakistani pressure in the post-cease-fire scenario, the Hizb's mentors
across the border are trying to drive a wedge among its cadres in the
Valley. No wonder the recent violent attacks in the Valley were attributed
to the Hizb. Whether Dar will take the peace plunge is not clear. However,
violence is likely to increase as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's
US visit next month approaches. Attacks on security forces are aimed at
chipping away the ascendancy of the anti-militancy grid and to bolster
the separatists' morale. The militant strategy is to erode the flow of
information from public to security forces through terror. "Any peace
overture is sure to fuel desperation in militant ranks," says Kashmir
DGP Gurbachan Jagat.
Already,
Pakistan is floating new militant groups or reviving defunct ones to rival
the Hizb. And despite the high rate of casualties, ranks and logistics
are quickly replenished by fresh infiltration from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
This summer alone saw the influx of at least 1,100 militants. As a result,
their manpower and firepower remain largely intact while the ground network
is capable of striking at will. With Salahuddin under Pakistan's thumb,
Dar's attempts to pull the plug on his mentors across the border hold
tenuous hope for peace. But the danger remains that this too will degenerate
into the zero-sum game that the Kashmiris are so tired of.
Top
|
The
stock markets are humming, and it's feel-good time once again, writes
INDIA TODAY Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in 
