A S Dulat, a former spymaster, said separatism in Kashmir was “dead,” but he thought it was important to start a conversation with mainstream political parties in the Valley.
Dulat, who served as the central government’s advisor on Jammu and Kashmir during former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime, also argued that talks with Pakistan should begin.
“Separatism I believe is dead now. It has become redundant. Like Article 370, separatism also is gone,” Dulat told PTI in an interview on Saturday.
He claimed that Kashmir politics are influenced by Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has been under house arrest since August 4, 2019.
“There is a leader who I feel has a role and that is Mirwaiz but he has been kept in his house. So, we will only know when he comes out. He has been mainstream and whenever he is allowed to come out, and I think it should be done as quickly as possible, then we will see which way he goes,” the former special director of Intelligence Bureau added.
The former spy responded, “There was never a big issue and there will always be an issue. The sooner we have an elected government, the better, because it provides a buffer for Delhi.”
“Dialogue, talking is the way out. If not to the separatists, talk to the mainstream, have elections and restore the statehood,” he added.
Dulat didn’t say that Pakistan’s situation had any effect on Kashmir, but he did say that “radicalisation” among the youth was a worrying factor.
“I don’t think there is any impact here. Pakistan is in such a mess that even those who were once pro-Pakistan are now saying what is there in Pakistan? I don’t think Pakistan is a factor. What worries me is that radicalism seems to be growing. That’s not a good thing because Kashmir always has been open, liberal, Sufi, Shaivite. So that should be a matter of concern,” he said.
Dulat stated that Jammu and Kashmir still has terrorism because of occasional incidents.
“There were a couple of bad incidents in Poonch-Rajouri. We need to take note of that. Then there are always boys in the south, our own boys, they get involved from time to time.
“I want to tell you something…A Kashmiri craves for peace. He has had enough of this. It was an experiment that Kashmir had to go through, and it is an experiment which has failed. I think nobody wants this should continue,” he said.
Dulat said that the Congress-led UPA in 2005 made a mistake by not allowing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, founder of the PDP, to remain as Jammu and Kashmir’s chief minister.
“In 2002, Mufti sahib became the CM. I think his three years were very good. I used to think that the Congress committed a blunder by removing Mufti Sahib. So, these things happen, this is politics. It is for the party in power to decide,” he added.
Dulat responded, “I don’t know and I should not know as I have been out of government for a long time,” when asked if there were any secret talks taking place in Kashmir.
“Each government handles it in its own way. For instance, I worked with PM Vajpayee for five-and-a-half-years and people in Kashmir still remember Vajpayee. After him, Dr Manmohan Singh tried his best and you would recall when Modiji came to power in 2014, the first person to welcome him was the Mirwaiz. I am sure Modiji is doing it in his own way. Everyone has his own way of dealing with it,” he added.
Dulat stated that Pakistan’s attempts to improve relations with New Delhi should elicit a positive response from India.
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