Rajnath Singh can't afford fruitless talks with Kashmir

The much-awaited all-party parliamentary delegation is going to Srinagar on September 4. But who will meet them? Syed Ali Shah Geelani has locked himself up at home and stated he would not engage with the delegation.

In this situation, it is unlikely that the rest of the Hurriyat Conference, including Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Yasin Malik, would want to stick their necks out when they believe the PDP-BJP state government has betrayed the Kashmiris, and PM Narendra Modi has made provocative speeches distorting the context in which Kashmiris view the Valley and its imperatives.

On the other hand, the PDP-BJP alliance is mired in its own mistakes. The BJP cannot pull out the PDP from the mess it has got itself in under Mehbooba's stewardship. The alienation in the Valley has reached unprecedented dimensions and there is no going back.

The gulf between the state and Union governments' is visible in the statistics. The statistics released by the state government until August 24 presented a higher figure of deaths than the toll released by Union home ministry, which estimated a lower figure of 60+ in its folio to the parliamentary delegation on September 2, whereas the state government estimate released only a week earlier, kept the toll at 70.

The Union government has not welcomed the suggestions of Northern Area Commander Lt Gen D.S. Hooda who advocated that the talks must include separatists and student leaders from the Valley.

In any case, the Hurriyat is not willing to meet emissaries from Delhi. Not only has the death of Burhan Wani led to a surge of support for militancy, but also strengthened religious dogmatism.

The current Kashmiri narrative has hardened and Kashmiri Pandits are referred to as "too pro-India". Flats for them have been referred to as "Pandit ghettoes", which is unfair as no significant housing has yet been provided to the exiled.

In this charged situation, why has the parliamentary delegation gone to Kashmir? Because, in order to begin talks, it is necessary to visit those they can. The Kashmiris must know that there are sympathetic MPs wanting to share their concerns, wanting to offer condolences for the injured and the dead - those who will ask for their views on how the unrest grew.

Unfortunately, there is likely to be little such interaction. The Valley will be shut down in a curfew. Tempers are still high, and the people still grieving. They want to know what happened to their rights and why? The Union government's narrative has botched up the issue.

The PM's diatribe against Pakistan and its alleged crimes against Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK, has derailed the proposed peace talks. It is ridiculous to claim that PoK is under a severe military regime, with Kashmiris on the other side thirsting to get out of the region.

The Kashmiris fear the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) under which there is immunity for anything done or purported to be done by any soldier/officer.

In a very important judgment less than a month ago, the Supreme Court clarified upon a plea raised by persons from Manipur that AFSPA could not be extended indefinitely. The apex court also ruled that there could be no immunity under AFSPA for human rights violations.

Considering some 1,800 cases raised by the plaintiffs of human rights violations by the security forces, the court ruled that they be investigated. This judgment will be a shot in the arm for the Kashmir civil society that has strongly opposed the law, which the British colonial government introduced as an Ordinance in 1942 to deal with the Quit India movement the same year.

Other draconian laws like the Public Safety Act also need to be withdrawn as the Act, which was initially passed to curtail timber smuggling, has become an another anti-terrorism law.

Kashmir requires patient attention and calibrated demilitarisation as tempers soften, as well as wide-ranging talks to grant the Valley greater autonomy it has longed for.

But the Union and state governments as well as Indian civil society have a major task ahead. It is high time we gave Kashmiris the humane governance and respect due to them.

This will require a marked, secular and pacifist shift in the Indian government's policy.