'Solution to J&K issue must come from the people themselves'

The main problem of the violence-scarred and strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is political and a political solution to the Kashmir problem must come from the people themselves.

This was the view presented by the Union government's chief interlocutor for J&K, Dileep Padgaonkar, here on Saturday.
Explaining the complexities involved at the ground level in Kashmir, the well-known journalist said that a solution to the political tangle in the state "must come from the people".

He stressed that an emotional approach rather than an intellectual one would work best in winning the hearts of the people of J&K. This was also important in addressing the intense sense of alienation among the people in the troubled state which needed to be addressed at the highest level, Padgaonkar said.

He was delivering a public lecture "Towards a political solution in Jammu & Kashmir" at the Patrakar Bhavan, Navi Peth. The lecture was organised by the Centre for Communication and Development Studies and Open Space as a part of the "Keeping the Peace" lecture series.

Stating that the panel of interlocutors had met nearly 4,000 people ranging from imprisoned youths, stone-pelters and the displaced among others, Padgaonkar said the nation must accept four fundamental realities with regards to J&K.

That mistakes were made by the Indian government in the past, that there is an external dimension to the problem in the form of Pakistan and that the enormous plurality and diversity of J&K had to be accepted. The fourth fundamental reality was that the solution to the problem had to come from the people of the state themselves.

Padgaonkar pointed out that 117 youngsters had been killed in the stone-throwing agitation last year and yet this did not provoke a single debate in the parliament or a debate in the media. This gave the impression that the rest of India does not care about these deaths, adding to the alienation which must be addressed to at the highest level.

Padgaonkar said after 63 years of independence, a rigid mindset had developed about the problem in Kashmir. That this was a Hindu-Muslim problem; that it was about Indian and Pakistani nationalism and that Kashmiri nationalism was the third aspect of the situation. This mindset needs to be questioned, he said, adding that there were other aspects to the problem.

Presenting a historical perspective, he said while Kashmir has become a part of Pakistan's identity ("the 'k' in Pakistan stands for Kashmir"), the fact that Kashmir opted for India during the partition was a litmus test of its secular ethos. This was also underscored by the fact that the entire state consisted of many different regions and cultures such as those from Leh and Jammu.

"It is wrong to look at the entire state of J&K from the prism of the Valley. One cannot ignore the people of Jammu and other parts of the state who feel they have been taken for granted," he said.

Padgaonkar said it was important to look at the diversity of aspirations of the people of the state. "Do not look for a solution from the perspective of security," he cautioned.

Stating that the army was doing a "splendid job" in the state, Padgaonkar emphasised that it was important for the army to be sensitive to the charges of human rights violations in the state.

He stressed that while some quarters were suggesting that the state be split or trifurcated, such suggestions were dangerous. "Having gone through one partition, we do not want a solution based on communal division. I do not think that even today's generation wants such a solution," he said.

"The challenge is to address the political aspirations, the plurality and the diversity of aspirations without violating the territorial integrity of J&K," he said.Dileep Padgaonkar at a function organised by Open Space on Saturday