J&K governor Satya Pal Malik. (TNN photo)

NEW DELHI: The appointment of Satya Pal Malik as the J&K governor is the prelude to a genuine effort to start talks with the estranged Kashmir Valley , senior government sources said.

Sources said Malik was sent with a clear brief to engage with whoever was willing to talk within the framework of the Constitution. "This marks a clear shifting of gears by the Centre," a top government functionary said, his remark lifting the haze over why the former Union minister was suddenly plucked from Patna Raj Bhavan and posted in Srinagar.

The official said while there would be no let-up in the fight against terrorists, Malik would build upon the work done by the Centre's interlocutor, former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma, who reached out to diverse shades of opinion in the trouble-torn state. The bridge-building exercise showed that sections in the Valley could be amenable to being engaged — something which provoked Pakistan-backed terrorists to seek to squelch it by brutally killing Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari, who had appreciated Sharma's initiative.

"Bukhari's killing was a chilling message to those who were ready to give peace a chance. It saddened us and reminded us yet again of the dangers involved but did not deter the Modi government from taking a fresh shot at outreach, this time through a governor who will keep the doors of Raj Bhavan open at all times to anyone who believes in dialogue within the four corners of the Constitution," the senior official, who is familiar with the details of decision-making, said.

He also pointed to PM Narendra Modi 's reference to J&K in his Independence Day speech and his focus on "insaniyat", saying it might be the "compass" for Malik to follow as he sets out to discharge his responsibility.

The selection of the former Lok Sabha member breaks a long spell of J&K governors being chosen from among bureaucrats, generals and chiefs of intelligence agencies. Considering that Jagmohan, who served two terms, the second one lasting just five months, was a bureaucrat and was assigned the job because of his reputation as an able administrator, Malik is the first "politician", in the full sense of the term, to have been assigned the sensitive task.

Having started off as a socialist who drifted into Congress before walking out with V P Singh and eventually landing in BJP, Malik has contacts across the political spectrum. If former CM Farooq Abdullah was at the airport to receive him, the new governor also has ties with the PDP leadership, dating to the time when he and PDP founder Mufti Muhammad Sayeed were together in V P Singh's party.

Malik, who has served as a member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as well as the UP assembly, was a minister under former PMs V P Singh and Chandra Shekhar.

