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THE NATION: KASHMIR
Trying Peace By Piece
The Centre adopts a carrot and cudgel approach in the Valley, sending
Pant to talk to leaders while security forces plan offensive operations
against militants
By Harinder Baweja in Srinagar
Ali Mohammad Ganai
is a typical Kashmiri. His day does not end till he joins the other people
from his locality, drawing on his hookah and discussing the day's events.
There is always something to talk about: bomb blasts, encounters, militant
strikes.
Last week, Ganai, 49, himself became the subject
of discussion. He had set out as usual for the Irrigation Department where
he works as a clerk. Ganai half greeted an army patrol party he met on
the way, as most Kashmiris have learnt to do, and carried on his way.
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| Ganai: Unarmed combat |
A little later, he and two other colleagues were
summoned by the patrol party. They had found a tiffin box lying by the
side of the road and wanted Ganai and his colleagues to check it out.
The three protested but were brushed aside. They had no choice but to
open the box. A minute later, two of them lay dead; Ganai runs the risk
of losing his right arm.
It was last week too that the Centre announced
its new three-pronged approach to bring peace back to the Valley. Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's invitation to Pakistan Chief Executive
General Pervez Musharraf for talks-which he accepted with alacrity-was
one of the approaches, partly to keep the LOC quiet. But it was the other
two tactics-of using a carrot and cudgel in the Valley-that were running
into roadblocks. To resume the political process, the Union Government's
key negotiator K.C. Pant was sent for talks with Kashmiri leaders. Simultaneously,
the security forces resumed combat operations after months of cease-fire
against militants to demonstrate that the soft approach for talks would
be balanced by a tough offensive against terrorism.
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| GROUND REALITY: After the withdrawal of
cease-fire that saw the security forces back in their barracks for
six months and heavy casualties in the ranks, it might take some time
to remotivate the troops and regain lost ground |
Ganai, arm heavily bandaged, smirks at the initiatives.
"They are all playing games," he says. It seems to be the general
refrain in the Valley. Pant's week-long visit to the state, in fact, gives
a good indication of the postures being adopted by the players concerned.
On his first day in Srinagar, Pant had to be content talking to shikarawallahs
and taxi-drivers along the Dal Lake. Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir
Shah, who had earlier agreed to meet Pant, made him wait for 24 hours
before deciding that he was not ready for formal talks. He was willing
to invite him to his house though.
State Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah-who now
thinks Delhi is trying to prop up Shah after having tried to do the same
with the Hurriyat Conference-too cancelled his meeting with Pant, saying
he was not well. As earlier, Pant had to go to Abdullah's house to enquire
about his welfare. Instead of trying to find ways to restore peace in
the troubled state, Pant was forced to spend time making peace with the
players. He even had trouble meeting Abdullah's brother-in-law G.M. Shah,
who initially called off the appointment because Pant was late by over
two hours, but relented, only to declare that tripartite talks were a
must for peace.
Pant had, in fact, been despatched to the state
after reports from intelligence agencies pointed to the growing demand
for a tripartite dialogue. Analysing the drawbacks of the six-month long
cease-fire, the agencies had pointed not just to the rising violence but
to what they called a disturbing trend showing the secessionist forces
had gained ground. Says a senior intelligence officer: "Hurriyat
leaders had started addressing the public after the Friday prayers and
talking about the need for a three-way dialogue.''
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