- Narayanan suggests reopening of talks with Pakistan
India’s former National Security Adviser Mayankote Kelath (MK) Narayanan has suggested to the policymakers and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an open and impassioned appeal for peace in the Indian-held Kashmir, accompanied by meetings and consultations, including with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
In his latest newspaper piece – Winning back the Valley – on Wednesday, he wrote that India could consider swallowing its pride and reopen talks with Pakistan, not so much hoping that Pakistan would ‘cooperate’ but to assuage the ‘hard-liners’ in Kashmir. “Detaching from a muscular policy to a more reasoned one has become essential,” he opined.
“The situation (in Kashmir) thus demands a complete makeover. There is a need to go back to the drawing board and effect changes in Kashmir’s Constitution that were introduced post the 1960s,” he said, adding that this (new approach) would help establish a measure of credibility to India’s claims that it was not seeking to undermine ‘the autonomy that Kashmir prizes so much.’
“What these (measures) are, will need to be carefully worked out by teams of constitutional and other experts,” Narayanan suggested. “Immediately, however, what is most crucial is to make an open and impassioned appeal for peace in the valley accompanied by meetings and consultations at several levels,” he said. “No segment should be excluded, including ‘separatists’ and the Hurriyat,” he said.
The former adviser pointed out that Delhi was, by and large, uninterested in changing its course on the (disputed) state. Hence, “the future of Kashmir is nobody’s concern,” he wrote. “If, during the latter part of 2016, Kashmir was portrayed as confronting one of its gravest crises ever, the situation in the valley today is to all intents and purposes far more complex,” he highlighted.
He pointed out that the violent protests, with a high number of killed and injured, have hardly come down; the patterns set following the death of (young Kashmiri icon) Burhan Wani in an encounter in July 2016 also continue. He said that no one in the establishment, either in Srinagar or in Delhi, seems to know why the violence was continuing.
He also said that the issues were far deeper than urging all stakeholders to allay the apprehensions and misgivings of the Kashmir youth. Something very different has occurred and something new needs to be attempted, he said, adding that the unorganised – and even divided – nature of the protest movement carries the danger that it could turn into an Intifada, a kind of people’s uprising with no known leaders.
“It carries deep risks for both domestic and international reasons. It is something that India must prevent before it actually takes shape, and ‘martyrdom’ becomes the new normal,” he wrote. Within Kashmir, the Hurriyat has, today, lost much of its relevance, he said, adding that India seems far removed from the reality of the grim scenario unfolding in the valley.
Leaving matters to intelligence and security agencies, and the army would be the least viable option, the former adviser said. “Where do we go from here? To begin with, policymakers must ponder deeply as to why ordinary citizens are prepared to gravitate to areas where actual encounters are taking place risking death and injury even though they are not involved in the protests,” he said.
Narayanan said that resorting to pyrotechnics such as the novel idea of tying a protester to the bonnet of a security vehicle and driving it through a crowd of agitators were the best avoided. “Today’s agitators are angry and reckless, but it is they who are redefining the nature of protests and reshaping the contours of the movement,” he said.