Mirwaiz Umer Farooq

Srinagar, Nov. 6: The moderate separatist leadership has begun preparing the ground in Kashmir for talks with New Delhi in the face of strong opposition by Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani and militants.

The Hurriyat doves led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq are working on two fronts: trying to draft in other moderates, including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Mohammad Yasin Malik and Freedom Party president Shabir Shah, to put up a front against Geelani and evolve some common ground.

At the same time, the Mirwaiz has started a mass-contact programme to mobilise opinion in favour of talks by trying to clear apprehensions about the process.

The efforts follow Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s October 28 invitation to the separatists to come forward with “meaningful ideas for promoting peace and development in Kashmir”.

The Mirwaiz has welcomed the Centre’s “change of heart” and described the statements of the Prime Minister and home minister as “encouraging”. But he also suggested that the government wasn’t speaking in one voice.

“There are contradictions within the (central) leadership. The Prime Minister said something on August 15 (in Delhi) and something in Kashmir. The army chief says something else. We are glad that realisation is slowly dawning upon the Indian leadership that electoral process is no solution to the Kashmir imbroglio,” the Mirwaiz told a gathering here today as part of his mass-contact programme.

He was referring to Singh’s Independence Day address where the Prime Minister had said Kashmiri separatism had no relevance, but later invited them to talks during his Kashmir visit last month.

But, in a change of tack, the Mirwaiz favoured the “trilateral” formula, which involves separate talks with New Delhi, Islamabad and Kashmiris. This is being seen as a bid to counter Geelani, who argues that the Hurriyat constitution doesn’t allow bilateral talks.

“The triangular dialogue is within the framework of the Hurriyat constitution. If we have one round of talks with New Delhi, we should have the second round with Islamabad. We hope that India and Pakistan will hold talks with each other, too, to resolve the issue,” the Mirwaiz said.

He asked the Centre to implement its five-point proposal to create a conducive atmosphere for talks. “Demilitarization (troop withdrawals), release of prisoners, repealing black laws, withdrawing special powers to armed forces and improving contact between two parts of Kashmir divided by the LoC are some steps that can create a conducive atmosphere for talks.”

The pre-conditions are aimed more at weaning people away from Geelani’s stand and to ensure that the Mirwaiz is not seen to be “cosying up” to New Delhi.

Geelani, seen by some as the only thorn in the resumption of talks, is leaving no stone unturned in spoiling the process. He accuses the Centre of insincerity in resolving the Kashmir issue and has set some tough pre-conditions, like accepting Kashmir as a disputed territory, for the dialogue to kick off.