Track II dialogue begins as Sinha-led delegation reaches out to separatists

Track II dialogue has been initiated in the simmering Kashmir valley with a five-member delegation led by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha meeting the separatists and other stakeholders in Srinagar. Sinha’s team comprised Wajahat Habibullah, former Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, senior journalist Bharat Bhushan and Executive Director of the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, Shashooba Barway. Sources close to the delegates indicated that formal talks would follow soon. Highly placed sources said that the delegation has conveyed their agenda during closed door meetings with the separatists, especially with Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Mirwaiz told the delegation that it was high time for the Central government to start a meaningful dialogue for the final resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Mirwaiz’s aide Professor Abdul Gani Bhat told the delegation that the Central Government should be serious to resolve the issue and assured that all separatists would be ready for the talks if they are started without any gimmick. The initiative has been taken at the behest of the Central Government, though Yashwant Sinha told the media that they had come for the “sake of humanity and have no agenda of the government”. However, he insisted that a dialogue must be initiated between the separatists and New Delhi at the earliest. Reports said that at the highest levels a decision has been taken to hold unconditional talks with the separatists in order to end the current unrest and explore the possibilities of resolving the Kashmir dispute.

Informed sources told this newspaper that a lot of ground work was done by the Central government before sending the Sinha-led delegation to Kashmir. Sources further said that Syed Ali Shah Geelani was assured that the team will come for concrete dialogue. Some other meetings were also fixed beforehand including with civil society members and trade organisations.

Yashwant Sinha said that this will not be the first and the last meeting and expressed hope that there initiative will be successful to bring down the level of violence.

Sinha expressed the hope that Kashmiris will become stakeholders of their pain in New Delhi. As the state government has reportedly requested the Track-II delegates to help them in getting the educational institutions opened and also to conduct the examinations, the team headed by Yashwant Sinha on Thursday held a second round of talks with Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his Hyderpora residence.

Reports said that Geelani said that the separatists were in favour of opening educational institutions. Geelani told them that the onus was on the state government to create conditions for normal education by releasing thousands of parents and students from jails and by stopping night raids which have mentally disturbed the student community in the entire valley. The Kashmir Bar Association, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS) and dozens of other delegations met the Sinha led team. Reports said that the delegation was in touch with more stakeholders including the youths.

Meanwhile, educational institutions are unlikely to open soon in Kashmir as separatists have said that the onus of opening the schools and colleges was on the state government and they should create conditions for the same. Union Home Ministry has reportedly asked the state government to see if they can open the institutions with the help of police protection.