Issuing statements on Kashmir is the latest fashion

NEW DELHI - It is raining statements in Jammu and Kashmir with the political leadership, self appointed stake holders and a host of other characters going overboard with vague statements that defy logic and are out of context with the existing realities. Probably, this has got something to do with the appointment of the interlocutors by the central government.

In fact, the maximum statements have come from the interlocutors themselves who seem to have spoken to the media more and the people less during their first visit to the state.he interlocutors took off by expressing a willingness to speak with people in Pakistan.

This statement , out of the blue, ruffled many feathers, and not without reason, because, there exists a popular belief that Pakistan is the biggest perpetrator of the turmoil in the Valley.

It would be better if they leave the tackling of Pakistan to the Central Government and the Ministry of External Affairs and concentrate more on the people of the state.

Instead, the panel should acknowledge security forces as stake holders, given the fact that no less than 10,000 brave soldiers of the Indian Army have sacrificed their lives in the wars against Pakistan and counter insurgency operations in Kashmir.

The panel has also stated that militants have expressed their willingness to present a “peace plan” and Dileep Padgaonkar considers this to be “something important”.

There is nothing wrong in talking to the militants, but surely, it should be happening only after the mainstream opinion of the three regions has been heard, analysed and understood. t would be prudent to first see what the common man wants, and then, accommodate the aspirations of the fringe segment of the militants within this higher agenda.

Yet another set of interesting statements is coming from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. e seems to have taken on his father’s penchant of saying something in Delhi, reversing his stand in Kashmir and changing the context of the reversed stand in Jammu.

Earlier, his focus was to provide good governance as mandated by the people during the State Assembly elections.

Since a hue and cry was raised about his ability to deliver the mandate, he has turned back to the time tested politics of the Valley and raised questions about the accession of the state, which he feels did not merge with the Indian Union, but only acceded. .

He has followed up with a statement endorsing Padgaonkar’s statement on involving Pakistanr.

Now, he is spending most of his time defending his statements, when, he should be looking at the looming threat of terror attacks in the wake of President Obama’s visit to India, or ensuring proper utlisation of the development package sanctioned by the Centre, or concentrate on the rehabilitation of Leh amongst other pressing problems of governance.

The fashion of making statements does not end here.

Adullah Alam, the so called special representative of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir, has, in an event organised by some fringe Pakistani organisation, stated that the settlement of Kashmir is not far away.

It is incredulous that he can, so emphatically, legislate on the future of Jammu and Kashmir and be privy to information that is not known even to the Government of India.

There are enough problems in the Muslim community outside India for the OIC to concern itself with, more so in Pakistan, where, the inhumane exploitation of the Shias, the Baluchs and the Pushtuns in the hands of the Punjabi elite is a matter of concern..

In case the OIC wishes to raise its stature, it should stop becoming a political tool in the hands of Pakistan by making innocuous , meaningless statements on Kashmir.

The next person who is on a statement spree is Arundhati Roy.

An invitation to by Geelani to join the bandwagon of controversies in Kashmir was taken up by her with alacrity. She obliged by giving some controversial bytes which were, as usual, low on facts/logic and high on obsessive fanaticism.

“Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this”, said this epitome of wisdom, seeking to take the clock back to a point that cannot be revisited in any discussion on the future of Kashmir.

She had nothing to say about the people who have suffered due to Pakistan sponsored terrorism; she had no comments on the efforts of the Indian Army in ensuring security and stability in the State; she had no issue with the gross human rights violations that the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Northern Areas are suffering due to blatant colonisation; by Pakistan .

She was only bent upon making inconsequential sensationalist statements and continued to do so till such time that national revulsion put a lid on her utterances. here is fortunately a silver lining in the cloud.

The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH),India’s apex Muslim cleric group, organised an impressive seminar on Kashmir at the historic Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.

The seminar was held to show solidarity with the Muslims of Kashmir and called for the restoration of permanent peace in Kashmir Valley, but not at the cost of the social, political and geographical unity of the country.

The demand for US mediation was rejected and the overwhelming sentiment was that “dialogue not bullet will solve the Kashmir problem”.

This fashion of making statements is not helping the Kashmir cause. It is unnecessarily giving publicity where none is required and confusing issues where absolute clarity already exists. It would be better for all genuine stake holders to go about doing their work in a quiet and unobtrusive manner.

The constituency of peace should be allowed to evolve rather than be thrust upon the people though proactive media orchestration.

The solution should come through a slow but sure step by step approach, totally divorced from the media glare. By Jaibans Singh (ANI)