Hurriyat, spilt wide open

The Agra summit will test the standing of the Hurriyat Conference in the Valley like never before

MUZAMIL JALEEL

ON the surface, it is just a diplomatic tea party, where people will exchange smiles and nostalgia-ridden pleasantries. But the Pakistan ambassador’s high tea in New Delhi on July 14 has turned into a test of survival and a measure of relevance for the Hurriyat Conference, which is already trapped in a whirlpool of internal problems.

The Centre is trying to sideline Hurriyat leaders because their presence at any function attended by Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf would add to their weight and endorse Hurriyat as the representative of Kashmiri separatism.

Musharraf has his own dilemma. Just two weeks ago he became President and his trip to India will confer much-needed legitimacy on his rule. He does not want to annoy India on a trivial matter like meeting Hurriyat, but he also does not want to let down its pro-Pak leadership.

Hurriyat, however, has already shot its wad by demanding formal meetings in writing with both Prime Minister Vajpayee and Musharraf. The meeting with Vajpayee seems out of question because the Government is unhappy with the Hurriyat boycott of previous talk offers.

If a meeting with Musharraf does not materialise either, it will be a last blow to the separatist conglomerate that is already split in several directions — both between pro-Pakistan and pro-Independent Kashmir lobbies, and also between moderate pro-Pak elements and hardline pan-Islamists.

This week, Musharraf provided some relief to Hurriyat — and added a new twist to the high tea drama — by sending a note to its chairman saying he is willing to meet the leaders during his Agra trip, and pledging support to the separatist movement. But Hurriyat is still not entirely happy with this gesture.

‘‘We don’t want a chance meeting with Gen Musharraf. We want a formal meeting,’’ said Hurriyat chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat. ‘‘Serious issues like Kashmir are not discussed at high teas. We need to talk to him in a formal environment,’’ he said. But Bhat reiterated his assurance that the conglomerate will not play a spoiler in the peace talks. ‘‘We have requested to meet the two leaders, and it is strictly outside the summit,’’ he said.

It appears that the government will not permit even a pro forma handshake over tea between Hurriyat and Musharraf, much less a formal meeting. But even if the Centre does compromise and Hurriyat leaders make it to the Pak embassy party, their problems are far from over.

The slight shift in Pakistan’s stance away from tripartite dialogue involving Hurriyat has already put the conglomerate in a difficult situation. Pro-Independent Kashmir leaders in Hurriyat, such as Yasin Malik, have criticised Pakistan for ‘‘treating Kashmiris like animals’’ by agreeing to leave them out of talks.

In Islamabad, Musharraf’s exclusion of pro-independent Kashmir groups from his recent meeting with separatist leaders from PoK has also contributed to the divide. In a gesture that seemed especially humiliating, Musharraf did not even invite Showkat Maqbool, a leader whose father, Maqbool Bhat, was a founder of Kashmir’s movement for independence and was hanged by India two decades ago. Also left out was JKLF Pak chief Amanullah Khan.

Hurriyat today is undergoing the most severe survival test since it was founded in the early 1990s. A majority of its leaders are pro-Pakistan; they have always demanded tripartite dialogue, and Pakistan has always been their biggest supporter and mentor.
‘‘If Pakistan decides to go it alone and talk to Delhi without them, it will surely be difficult for them to justify,’’ said a teacher in Kashmir University’s History department. ‘‘What is then left for (Hurriyat) to talk about? Nobody is going to listen to the argument that they will be included at a later stage’’.

The teacher said Pakistan’s new suggestion of involving Hurriyat at a later stage also implies that Kashmir’s participation is not essential if an Indo-Pak dialogue is initiated. ‘‘Pakistan has definitely gone back to bilateralism with India on Kashmir,’’ he said.

The biggest critics of Hurriyat these days are its supporters among ordinary Kashmiris. As the dominant sentiment in the Valley is for complete independence, many people feel the Hurriyat should start standing up to Pakistan instead of behaving like its puppet.

‘‘Everybody knows (Hurriyat) gets money from Pakistan. They will do exactly what Pakistan asks them to do. How are they important in any dialogue on Kashmir?’’ asked an elderly grocer in Dalgate. ‘‘If they want to prove they are not just agents, they better do it now. They should at least protest openly against Pakistan, which has resumed the futile direct talks again’’.

Some Kashmiris, however, are pinning their hopes on the bilateral summit. ‘‘I don’t feel there is any urgency to involve Hurriyat at this stage at all. Musharraf will represent the separatist sentiment of Kashmir in the same way as Vajpayee will represent the pro-India elements of the state,’’ said Prof. Noor Ahmad Baba, head, Political Science department, Kashmir University.

On the ground, Musharraf’s comments suggesting he will be flexible in the talks have caused yet another upheaval for the Hurriyat. The entire Jammu province leadership of the conglomerate, worried that the talks will lead to trifurcation of the state, has recently left the Hurriyat and formed a new forum, the Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement.

‘‘We are worried about our future. We are scared that Musharraf and Vajpayee will ultimately agree to compromise on the division of State,’’ said Saidullah Tantray, the forum chief, who was Jammu provincial leader of Jamat-e-Islami. ‘‘Musharraf has been hinting at ‘Kuch lo aur kuch do’ (give and take) in the talks, and we know what it means. We don’t want any division of Jammu and Kashmir to be a solution of the problem between India and Pakistan.’’

Tantray said Hurriyat is ‘‘concerned about the Valley alone’’ and may agree on such a formula. ‘‘We have to think how the Muslim dominated districts of Rajouri, Poonch and Doda will oppose such a communal division. We still remember the partition days when thousands were massacred in Jammu alone,’’he said.

The fear of communal trifurcation is not the only reason for this split in Hurriyat. It is also related to the regional aspirations of the Jammu Muslims, who are otherwise traditional supporters of Valley-based Hurriyat in separatist politics.

‘‘We have been blindly following leadership from the Valley for 53 years now. But now we too want to be involved in any discussions on our future,’’ Tantray said. ‘‘There was not a single member in the executive (Hurriyat’s top decision making body) from Jammu region. Is it fair?’’