It is an important positive aspect of the story that the all-party meeting on Kashmir called by the Prime Minister on Wednesday was well attended and marked by an absence of acrimony. Differences between parties on the handling of the recent unfortunate developments in the Valley were not even alluded to. That is indicative of seriousness of approach. While the unsettling phenomenon of the rise of Islamism being a key political element of the situation was not brushed under the carpet (although it was not referred to in direct terms), Congress president Sonia Gandhi stressed the importance of a magnanimous approach in any dialogue in order to assuage the pain of the youth. This undoubtedly has meaning since she heads the ruling party and the ruling alliance in New Delhi, and her sentiments are likely to have a bearing on how the government proceeds. In her speech, People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, whose party is the main Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and who has played spoilsport in Kashmir so far, went out of her way to applaud Mrs Gandhi’s sentiments. This is a good start in a volatile situation.
The high level representatives of the key national parties, and the National Conference, People’s Democratic Party and the Congress — the three mainstream parties that have a meaningful presence in J&K — at the meeting appeared to make thoughtful speeches, eschewing confrontational demands. It has been decided that an all-party delegation will visit the state shortly to confabulate with all those willing to meet them, whether separatist parties or social organisations, with a view to listen. Who better than politicians to be interlocutors of the people, rather than representatives of the governments, at the Centre and in the state? It has been decided that the inputs provided by the all-party delegation will be factored into policy as key ingredients. This is significant. It is a message to all concerned — to the people of Kashmir and all political parties and other players — that it is the collective will of the people of the country that will drive policy, not just the decision of the government. As far as the people of Kashmir are concerned, this will serve as an assurance; and the clear signal for jihadist ideologues and activists is that they will be challenged and defeated by the full might of the Indian state and society whose progressive and humane aspects they have shown the temerity to confront with the help of their foreign backers.
The Islamists in the Valley would have undoubtedly noted that the all-party meeting refrained from demanding either the resignation of chief minister Omar Abdullah or the imposition of governor’s rule. No participant brought up these questions. This is a mature response to the goings-on in the Valley, one that cannot please the extremist mobilisers of religious sentiment. Ms Mehbooba Mufti, who had made it a virtue to be contrarian as the situation in the Valley went from bad to worse, appeared to be a different persona and extended all support to concrete efforts to restore normality. Thus, the takeaway from the five-hour meeting on Wednesday is beneficial. What political actors of all hues, not least the government (in the state and at the Centre), need to keep in view as they go about interacting with the people in Kashmir is the abject failure of the authorities to detect the rise of a buried old tendency in the Valley — that of an Islamist resurgence. A part explanation of this is the callous disregard by the government of people in public life who back the cultural ethos of tolerance native to the Kashmir Valley.