A Peace Offering At Last

Says Shabir Shah, a senior Hurriyat leader: "We have great faith in Deve Gowdaji. We have never said no to talks but I think this is the most opportune moment to initiate talks." Other Hurriyat leaders, including its chairman Moulvi Omar Farooq, have been echoing the same sentiment. In fact, the APHC, which has always been firm in its stand that it wants nothing short of a tripartite meeting that would include the Governments in New Delhi and Islamabad, is now willing to talk to the United Front Government first and to Pakistan at a "later stage".

The Hurriyat's revised stand comes at a time when the NC is going all out to strike a rapport with the new Government and be identified in the Valley as the party which has put in the most effort to see that Gowda's ministry draws up the parameters for the implementation of the promised "maximum autonomy". NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and Saifuddin Soz have held a series of meetings with the Prime Minister and senior UF leaders which have been described as very positive.

These talks are important because the NC was to meet in Srinagar on June 9-10 to chalk out its future strategy as well as to evaluate the just-concluded Lok Sabha election process. According to the official NC spokesman, Saifuddin Soz, the "conduct" of the elections is first on the agenda and the party will prepare a document incorporating reports from its workers throughout the Valley. Says he: "The reports we have got points to large-scale rigging and coercion. There were no observers in many far-flung areas, so no one knows what happened there."

The NC, in its discussions with Delhi leaders, has insisted that elections to the state assembly be held in the presence of independent observers, including members of reputed human rights organisations. Only then, the party feels, can any election in the Valley be credible. Farooq Abdullah articulated this point at a recent meeting with partymen in Srinagar when he pointed out that the NC "would not like to participate in any election in which the army interferes". The NC, according to him, was all for the "people's" elections.

But whatever may be the point of view of the top leadership, there is some regret in the NC that the party did not take part in the Lok Sabha elections. The Jammu unit, in particular, is cut up since there is a growing feeling that the poll boycott was for the benefit of the Valley leaders. However, senior NC leaders are quite categorical that this view is held by a very small section of the party and that they do not regret not participating in the elections. Says Soz: "All newspaper reports stating that we have regrets are false. We are happy that we did not take part in a nakli (false) election. We will ensure that the next election is held in a free and fair manner."

The pattern of votes polled is a pointer. In Srinagar constituency, for example, the BJP polled as many as 35,911 votes. In Anantnag, the party secured 39,960 votes.

The postal ballots polled in favour of the party in this constituency accounted for only 6,873 votes. The BJP's performance is seen as a phenomenon which cannot be explained easily since the party is not known to be particularly popular in the Valley, and certainly not in Srinagar.

It was not the BJP alone which grabbed a sizeable chunk of the votes. Independent first-time candidates, who did not as much as campaign, walked away with an enviable chunk of votes. Thus, in Srinagar, of the 2.7 lakh votes counted, over 1.2 lakh went to candidates with no political grounding whatsoever. This, according to observers, indicates that the voters, left with no choice, exercised their franchise arbitrarily.

Though there were allegations of coercion during the parliamentary elections, the mood in the Valley is to put the past behind and to look ahead. Even the Hurriyat Conference, which is strongly opposed to elections in Kashmir, seems to believe that polls can be conducted once the political crisis is resolved. Some APHC leaders have been enthused by former prime minister V.P. Singh's meeting with Shabir Shah in Srinagar days before the elections and see an important role for the Janata Dal leader in the days to come.

Most upset by the outcome of the recently-concluded elections are the surrendered militants, who in the words of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar had a "very important role to play in the holding of elections and in encouraging voters to vote". Now these 'renegades' who work under the direct control of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), a counter-insurgency force culled from the army, have been holding press conferences in Srinagar and Anantnag, alleging that they were "used" by the Government and feel cheated.

Part of their ire stems from the fact that none of the 12 'reformed' militants, who were fielded in the three Valley constituencies, won in the elections. On the day results were declared, the surrendered outfits gave vent to their anger by pelting stones on buses in Srinagar and by trying to impose a bandh in the city. Considering that they operate under the direct supervision of the RR, as the army admits, it was also surprising that they were openly critical of the Government. Says Captain Tickoo, a surrendered militant who contested from Anantnag: "We regret we believed the Government. It was a lesson for all of us." Tickoo, who claims that the Anantnag district administration "functions" because of his "boys", has alleged poll irregularities and stuffing of ballot boxes. He even went so far as to allege that he had complained to T.N. Seshan, and that the Election Commission was not "stating the fact" when it said there were no complaints.

A day after the May 23 polls, PCC President Ghulam Rasool Kar had read to the press a text of a telegram which he claimed he had sent to the Election Commission, alleging booth-capturing by surrendered militants at 56 polling centres in the Baramulla constituency from which he had contested. Whether Kar's telegram failed to reach the Commission or the Congress leader was persuaded not to pursue the case is not known. Kar, in a magnanimous gesture, has now issued a statement in which he has asked the Government to rehabilitate the surrendered militants and help them "set up business".

The surrendered militants are not talking about their future plans. Only Hilal Haider of the Jammu and Kashmir Ikhwan enforced a four-day bandh in Anantnag town and declared a ceasefire with the pro-Pak Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). The HM has announced that it has adopted the policy of amnesty for surrendered militants and that they could rejoin the "freedom struggle" if they want to. The other surrendered groups say that they will continue their fight against militancy.

The Hurriyat Conference blames the gunmen of surrendered militants for the June 8 attack on two of its senior leaders—Abdul Gani Lone and Syed Ali Shah Gilani—when a powerful car bomb exploded near their houses. Both leaders escaped unhurt but the blast was powerful enough to shatter glass panes of houses in a radius of 1 km. Fifteen shops in the neighbourhood were gutted. Moulvi Farooq rushed to the office of the United Nations militar y observers in Srinagar following the blast. This is the seventh attempt on the life of Lone in the last one year. In the final analysis, the allegations made by surrendered militants have to be taken with a pinch of salt. But since they represent that arm of the Government which made elections possible, there is bound to be some embarrassment from statements being made to the press. There is pressure on the state administration to disarm those classified as "surrendered". That could perhaps be the first step in ensuring free and fair polls in the Valley.