What secret talks?

Published : Jan 01, 2010 00:00 IST

Shabir Ahmad Shah. He says the Hurriyat executive has not taken a decision on any "quiet dialogue".-NISSAR AHMAD

Shabir Ahmad Shah. He says the Hurriyat executive has not taken a decision on any "quiet dialogue".-NISSAR AHMAD

SHABIR AHMAD SHAH is head of the Democratic Freedom Party, which is a constituent of the Hurriyat faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. He was the first to respond positively to the offer of dialogue by the Vajpayee government.

He even met K.C. Pant, the interlocutor appointed by the Government of India. But Shabir Shah, who has spent 20 years in jail, is now a disappointed man and does not want to be part of the dialogue process. Excerpts from an interview to Frontline:

What has been your experience of the dialogue process?

Whenever there was any progress, India backtracked. Not to talk of sincerity, India was not even serious about the dialogue process. I have personally met Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, V.P. Singh, I.K. Gujral, Chandra Shekhar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and others when they were not in power. All of them accept the ground reality when not in power, but they speak a different language when they assume power.

You were involved in a sort of dialogue after you came out of jail in 1994.

K.C. Pant came to me as qasid (interlocutor) with a letter from GoI [Government of India]. But we found that vague. We wrote back to New Delhi for clarification as the letter was not talking about the Kashmir dispute and the involvement of Pakistan.

In response, New Delhi sent back a letter acknowledging both the facts. Later, when we asked New Delhi to create an atmosphere conducive to dialogue they never responded to that. They wanted to instil a notion in the international community that it is Indias internal issue and the sovereign country of Pakistan is not a party to it. We have learnt from the process. We should not repeat that mistake. It is futile to meet people in New Delhi again and again without any results.

What about the reports of the quiet dialogue process?

[Word about] this secret dialogue or quiet diplomacy is being spread like the swine flu. New Delhi has assigned this task to P. Chidambaram just to create confusion and divide people here. India wants to create an air of suspicion amongst the leadership and the people in Jammu and Kashmir. If anybody is talking to the Mirwaiz over the phone or meeting him, it does not mean that secret talks are going on. The Hurriyat executive has not taken any decision regarding this. If India is sincere, what is the need for secret talks?

India is befooling its own people. If India wants a seat in the United Nations Security Council, it must resolve the Kashmir issue according to the aspirations of the people.

What about the triangular talks proposition of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq?

It does not figure anywhere in the Hurriyat constitution of 1993. We believe in the implementation of the U.N. resolutions on the right to self-determination. Also, we have shown flexibility and proposed tripartite talks as a way for resolving the issue. Why should we talk about things that create problems for the leadership and the masses as well?

What do you think is the way forward?

India and Pakistan must include a team of four or five experts when they start talks on Kashmir. The experts will brief the leadership here about issues and proposals, and later we can decide on things on the basis of suggestions from the people and taking into account the aspirations and sacrifices of the people.

What about the murderous assault on Fazl Haque Qureshi?

Statecraft is ruthless. GoI is creating a vicious environment here. It is conspiring and working to drive a wedge into the leadership here. The attack on Fazl could be a possible offshoot of that. Such attacks always benefit a third party whose interest is to make the people fight and never come to terms with each other.

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