On Kashmir, Opposition leaders have absolutely no fresh ideas to offer

Leaders of Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha have managed to get the government to discuss the situation in Kashmir for the second time in the current Parliament session. On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha is discussing the situation in the Kashmir Valley where for the 33rd consecutive day, curfew has remained in force.

From demanding that the government facilitate an all-party delegation’s visit to Srinagar, there were also suggestions that “MPs be allowed to talk to people” of Kashmir.

On Monday, as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti landed in Delhi to meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Opposition leaders in the Rajya Sabha had raised the demand for a discussion and targeted the Narendra Modi government for its “silence” on the situation in the Kashmir Valley. Mehbooba, who seemed to have lost crucial support of people in the PDP’s bastion of South Kashmir by staying indoors and silent as protests over the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani assumed serious proportions, had no new ideas to share with the Central government.

The chief minister asked for the commencement of a dialogue, taking forward former NDA prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s initiative and even implementation of packages decided during the UPA’s decade-long-tenure. In the Rajya Sabha, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Leader of Opposition from the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad, rattled off the latest figures on deaths, injuries and arrests while demanding a discussion. Followed by CPM leader Sitaram Yechury who, questioned the continued use of pellet guns to tackle protesters when even Israel did not use this non-lethal gun against Palestinian protesters, the CPI’s D Raja went a step further and called for the withdrawal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (Afspa) with an end to the use of pellet guns.

Sharad Yadav, the veteran JD(U) leader expressed his surprise at the Modi government’s silence on the situation in Kashmir.

It was left to PDP member Mir Mohammed Fayaz to share the frustration of MPs keen to debate and discuss the same thing over and over again, when he questioned the utility of sending a parliamentary delegation to the Valley. “Who will meet them?” he asked. Fayaz said if the Congress had implemented the packages it spoke of during UPA’s decade-long tenure, then things today would have been different.

That brings us to ask a question: Do Opposition parties have anything tangible to say on Kashmir?

Will they offer constructive ideas that could be used by the government as it looks for ways to calm down a section of the restive population? Frankly, have leading national parties given even a thought to probable solutions or guiding principles on how to even start a conversation with Kashmiris?

While targeting Pakistan and exposing Islamabad’s links to militant groups in Kashmir political parties also need to consider who to talk to, and what to talk. If voices on social media are any indication of what young Kashmiris think, then political parties in the country have to seriously consider at different options. Accusing the Modi government of not doing anything will not help or work. What do these responsible parties have to offer as suggestions?

Congress president Sonia Gandhi accused the Modi government of undoing the “good work” done by UPA. Pray, what was it? If the appointment of interlocutors who lacked political weight and if the UPA government’s lack of courage to implement even some of the ideas suggested by its interlocutors, or take forward the dialogue with Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf are examples of good work, then Congress leaders need to introspect.

In fact, the dismal Congress record was criticised by one of the interlocutors Dileep Padgaonkar,  who was quoted by The Wire as saying , “(B)y and large the report was ignored by the UPA. I had been assured that the report would be tabled on the floor of the House and that there would be a debate on it and all the parties would be allowed enough space to deliberate on the recommendations, but that was not done…”

Opposition parties in India need to begin mature articulation of views on sensitive subjects where they offer well thought-through suggestions rather than making predictable criticisms. Having been in power for 10 years until 2014, the Congress as the leader of the then UPA government should ideally provide constructive ideas on the recommendations of five working groups that were set up by then prime minister Manmohan Singh. Or, the doable bits on suggestions made by interlocutors that UPA had appointed.

The leaders of the Hurriyat Conference have been further sidelined by protesters in the past month. Syed Geelani and Yasin Malik’s call last Friday for a march to Hazratbal shrine was not heeded. Only a small group of people joined them while the majority of protesters went to Pampore to hear slain terrorist Burhan Wani’s father. Who will Opposition leaders ask the government to talk to? And discuss what? Will Opposition members in Rajya Sabha during the second round of discussion on Kashmir have anything worthwhile to contribute in the form of probable solution/s?

The answer unfortunately is a resounding ’no'.