NEW DELHI: Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), at the heart of the four-month old diplomatic standoff between India and Pakistan, has suggested what may be a face-saving formula for the resumption of the talks, by offering to bow out from the dialogue process for now, The Hindu reported on Friday.

The paper quoted APHC chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as saying in an interview that the role of the Kashmiri resistance in the negotiations could be taken up at a later stage.

The Modi government had called off talks with Pakistan in August, objecting to its high commissioner in Delhi meeting resistance leaders, including the Mirwaiz.

“If they don’t talk and the problem gets prolonged, we are the ones at loss,” the Mirwaiz said. “For the Hurriyat, we want to be seen as contributors, not as spoilers. So it doesn’t matter to us whether the Pakistanis talk to us later, or in the beginning. It does not matter to us, as long as we are in the loop. We want to talk to both New Delhi and Islamabad, but now we would urge them to start talking, and offer our full support to the process.

A spokesman at the Pakistan High Commission declined to comment on the interview. There was no word from the hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on the Mir waiz’s proposal. The two usually don’t see eye to eye.

Asked whether he would be fine even if Pakistan did not talk to Hurriyat before it resumes its dialogue with India, the Mirwaiz said:

“Exactly. We are happy with it. The whole idea of Hurriyat meeting the Pakistanis is not to present our point of view, it is also to give strength to the whole process. It gives credibility to the whole process. May be we are not directly involved at this stage, but eventually we would like to be involved. As part of a tripartite or whatever mechanism one would call it, where everyone is talking to everyone. But if India and Pakistan can make the start, we support that.”

The Mirwaiz said he was saddened that the Hurriyat was seen as spoiler in India-Pakistan relations. He said closer relations between India and Pakistan were essential for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, and Hurriyat’s meeting with Pakistani interlocutors have never been to present its views only. “We want to contribute to the process in a wholesome way,” he said. The APHC leader was, however, critical of the Modi government’s Kashmir policy that he is still “waiting and watching.” “New Delhi wants to quarantine the Hurriyat and shrink the space for peaceful resistance.”

“It is moving on the beaten track; with the same old rhetoric.

When Nawaz Sharif came to Mr Modi’s swearing in, it presented a great opportunity, which has been wasted,” the Mirwaiz said. Asked to comment on the Indian army recently making a rare gesture by admitting to its mistake in a shooting of innocent civilians, the Mirwaiz was cautious.

“If the BJP shows political wisdom, as it did in this case, we welcome it. But there are several other issues -- the AFSPA (The Armed Forces Special Powers Act), the overwhelming military presence itself. We were hoping that the BJP would follow A.B.Vajpayee’s approach to the Kashmir issue. But Mr Modi appears to have a different agenda. The BJP wants to be in power in the state, it is creating polarisation. Which may help it in the short run, but in the long run, it is dangerous. Modi wants to be seen as a statesman, someone who has taken India and south Asia to new heights. How can he do it without resolving Kashmir?

There are signals that the administration was being sensitive. But I hope these are not only related to the elections, for the BJP to make some political gains.

Or whether there is genuine realisation that New Delhi must take the people of Kashmir into confidence.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2014