Anil Anand
On the basis of a sting operation conducted by a leading TV channel “exposing” separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders’ financial complicity with Pakistan, quarters in the Union government are all gung-ho. This is apparent from the hurried manner in which the case has been handed over to National Investigating Agency.
The NIA team has already reached in Srinagar to investigate the claims of APHC leaders caught on camera that they were receiving money from Islamabad to foment trouble in the Valley. And there are also reports that the investigating agency will bring at least three top Hurriyat leaders to Delhi for further investigations.
This development can at best be seen in line with the new doctrine being followed by the current NDA-II government at the Centre vis-a-vis Kashmir. Since the TV channel has been over-playing this story for the past many days, it has given reason to the government to act in top speed.
The APHC’s and for that matter those of couple of other separatist outfits operating in Kashmir, links with Pakistan are well known and an open secret. It is also a well known fact that they have been receiving money from across the border to foment trouble.
So then how important is the sting-operation oriented action against the leaders of the separatist conglomerate? This is a vital question that has cropped up after the Centre’s hurried action to despatch NIA to Srinagar.
Most of the intelligence sleuths fully well knew the APHC and its leaders’ credentials ever since the outfit came into being nearly three decades back. Successive Central governments, in this while, saw relevance of Hurriyat in the broader framework of resolving Kashmir crisis knowing fully-well that none of its leaders had a pan-Kashmir appeal. At best a few of them had influence in one or two Assembly segments.
Peoples Democratic Party founded by late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed is said to have strong backing of the APHC leaders more so of hardliners such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He was the topmost leader of Jamait-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir before APHC was formed. And there is no reason to believe that the PDP’s ruling alliance partner BJP was quite unaware of such links at the time of forming the coalition.
Interestingly, leader of one of the constituents of APHC who took to the mainstream is a BJP backed Minister in the Mehbooba government. The present action is justified but that raises a question why now and why not earlier.
There can be no two opinions that all such Pakistan funded rackets operating in Kashmir should be busted and action against APHC should be seen in that spirit. What worries one most is that this action has come too late and at a time when the separatist grouping has lost relevance in today’s scenario where a new crop of indoctrinated and radicalised youth are calling the shots.
The APHC was already weakened by factional fights particularly after hardliner Geelani parted ways to float a new outfit. Once a while they share platform to increase their bargaining power otherwise they are moving in opposition direction.
All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) even at best of times, in terms of separatist amalgam’s relevance, has only been a talking shop. Its leaders have a knack at hobnobbing with Pakistan to foment trouble in the Valley which was always done at a price and at the same time keep certain quarters in Delhi convinced that the Hurriyat could come handy for initiating a dialogue at some juncture. Of late, the APHC has totally lost its relevance and, in fact, even in the run up to the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani the amalgam leaders were confined to their houses and protected by Indian security forces.
Fact of the matter is that most of the Hurriyat constituents are either one man army or have very small pockets of influence. Under the present circumstances the movement on ground has totally slipped out of their hands. The new generation of separatists influenced by a set of radicalised youth such as Burhan Wani have been openly questioning the standing and contribution of Hurriyat leaders.
The Hurriyat leadership, of both Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Gillani factions, are at a cross-road. They are in a dilemma of their own making for running the risk of losing clout with Islamabad and at the same time totally discrediting themselves in the eyes of Kashmiris for amassing wealth and ensuring that their own wards enjoyed all privileges.
The only plus point with APHC factions is that these have some experienced leaders. Despite having lost ground to new set of separatists of the Burhan Wani genre, Mirwaizs and Gillanis can still play a meaningful role to extricate Kashmir from the current mess and help create a situation where dialogue could be held for all the stakeholders.
For that to happen the Hurriyat leaders would have to do some soul searching and become more transparent about their financial matters. Other than Hurriyat, the rest of the separatist Diaspora is unorganised and leaderless. But somehow due to certain factors related to mainline politics, they have generated public sympathy.
Well it will be interesting if any of the top intelligence officers who have either witnessed APHC’s formation or dealt with it subsequently, write a book. This could, perhaps, provide a glimpse of how Kashmir issue has been dealt with by New Delhi.
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