India, perhaps, would have even got United Jehad Council's chairman and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) chief Syed Salahuddin back into the mainstream, insists Dulat.
Is Kashmir a story of missed chances during Vajpayee's years for which the Indian government is paying the price even now.
One aspect that starkly comes out from former RAW chief AS Dulat just released book "Kashmir - the Vajpayee Years" is that had Indian government and agencies been a little more alert to read signals and capitalise on them, the Kashmir story could have been different.
India, perhaps, would have even got United Jehad Council's chairman and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) chief Syed Salahuddin back into the mainstream, insists Dulat.
HM, the most active militant group in Kashmir, is managed by Salahuddin from Pak occupied Kashmir (POK) with the help of ISI. It is one of most difficult outfits to handle as being a purely Kashmiri militant outfit it continuously feeds on Kashmiri youth.
According to Dulat, Salahuddin's son Wahid's admission from Jammu to government medical college, Srinagar was managed by the IB's points person, KM Singh in Kashmir, after which Salahuddin had called up Singh and conveyed his 'eternal gratitude.'
"Words like that should be capitalised on, but unfortunately we never did. We could have brought Salahuddin back, he was willing, but it was just a matter of when to bring him in," writes Dulat.
Explaining the developments, Dulat says, "Perhaps we wasted too much time. By the time this matter of his son's admission happened, I was no longer in R&AW but in the PMO, where the focus was the 2002 elections rather than bringing individuals back, even someone as big a deal as Salahuddin. Just imagine what a big thing it would have been in Kashmir if Salahuddin had returned and begun a dialogue — for, after all, he was a political person."
By 2001, Salahuddin was ready to come back and I I advocated it hundreds of times. Possibly the chief after me, Vikram Sood, had other interests, says Dulat.
Similarly, C D Sahay, who was chief after Sood, should have had every reason to be interested but somehow it was one of those things that never happened. I never intervened beyond a point, adds Dulat.
Dulat spoke to Salahuddin several times and could read his pulse well says, "There are guys who come to me and say that the fellow wants to come back. And I pass this thing on to the government. I presume someone follows it up, but I have no idea. The thing is really, more than anything, how much clarity, time and effort you are willing to put into an operation like this. Only then will they come to you."
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