All-Party Hurriyat Conference hardliner Syed Ali Geelani's 'pre-conditions' for talks with the Union Government deserve to be trashed with the contempt they deserve: If conceded, these demands will amount to handing over Jammu & Kashmir to the separatists who will then happily deliver it into Pakistan's hands. This is not an alarmist view, given Mr Geelani's unabashed desire for Islamabad's rule in the State. So, as a first step in that direction, he has demanded complete demilitarisation of the region and New Delhi's acceptance of the 'Kashmir issue' as an international dispute. Considering the fact that the military is not deployed in the Valley — it has occasionally conducted a flag march in recent times to control violence — but stationed along the Line of Control, he clearly wants the Army to facilitate Pakistan's takeover of the region by vacating its strategic positions. Mr Geelani also wants Central forces, deployed to assist the local police in maintaining law and order, to be withdrawn. This can happen only when he and those like him stop their disruptive activities, desist from imposing 'protest calendars' and refrain from instigating civilians to resort to violence. It is ironical that the Hurriyat hawk should blame the security forces for the violence that has wracked the Valley for three months, since it is his frequent calls to defy curfew and take to the streets, apart from his support to stone-pelting mobs, that has resulted in untamed violence, resulting in the death of men and women, and widespread arson. In sharp contrast, the local police and the CRPF have exercised restraint in the face of grave provocation. No less laughable is Mr Geelani's demand that the Union Government should officially acknowledge the 'Kashmir issue' as an international dispute: What purpose can there be to this condition other than to legitimise Pakistan's involvement in what is an internal matter of India? If the pro-Pakistan separatist leader who takes instructions from Islamabad is indeed pained by the violence in the Valley — as he claims he is — he would not have put forward impossible demands but sought a dialogue with the Union Government on a workable solution. He could have called off his disruptive calendar of violent protests and shut-downs to begin with as a goodwill gesture, and then expected the Union Government to come up with solutions to resolve grievances. Obviously peace in the Valley is not what the hardliner wants. His purpose is better served if there is continuing unrest and discontent.
In any case, there is no point in talking to the Hurriyat hardliner since he desires a solution outside the framework of the Constitution and one that will compromise the nation's territorial integrity. The Government must tap the moderate leadership in the State that is willing to work towards a resolution and has the support of the people. Unfortunately, the moderate leaders, instead of standing up to the rabble-rousers, have chosen to remain absent from the political landscape. The vast majority in the Kashmir Valley is neither enamoured of the separatists nor interested in its vile agenda. It is this section of the people which must make its voice heard above the raucous cry for "azadi". Mr Geelani does not really matter.
