At a time when Government of India has tightened noose on the Kashmiri separatist leaders, a Delhi-based peace group is in Srinagar and all set to meet all the top and middle rung Hurriyat leaders for a fresh opinion building in India on Kashmir.

The development comes at a time when India’s premier investigating agency, National Investigating Agency (NIA), is probing source of fund flow to various separatist leaders. The move to reach out to Hurriyat leaders also coincides with the New Delhi’s plans of isolating the separatists to ensure permanent peace in Kashmir.

“We are not in government but we are concerned and pained to see Kashmir bleeding. So we came here on our own expenses, and want to meet every body and get a fresh feedback what Kashmiris want and whether there can be a road ahead,” said former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer, who is heading a non-political group, Centre for Peace and Progress. Other members of CPP are O P Shah, journalist Vinod Sharma and Kapil Kak.

Aiyer said that they organised a successful six-hour long seminar on the title Kashmir— a Road Ahead in Srinagar, where in some Hurriyat leaders also participated besides a huge number of people including representatives from all the mainstream groups.

“We have conveyed it to Delhi that if we can do it despite being out of power, they can do it as well so that a solution is found to the problem which is lingering since decades,” said Aiyar.

Asked whether he would meet pro-freedom leaders like Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and others, he said: “We will meet everyone including all the Hurriyat leaders.”

Shanker is of the belief that PDP-BJP government must talk to militants including young boys who have picked up arms stating that when GoI can do it in Nagaland and Naxal areas, why not in Kashmir. He also said that there can be a start by laying a table to discuss autonomy proposal of National Conference.

A senior Hurriyat leader, confirmed that the Aiyer led team was going to meet them. “We will meet them as they are not part of the BJP government. Meeting is scheduled for Thursday,” he said, wishing not to be named.

Reliable sources said that Aiyer, who has been frequently travelling to Kashmir, will try to build an opinion in the power corridors in Delhi and by writing articles in various leading English dailies.

However, what remains to be seen is whether the efforts made by Aiyer led team would meet the same fate as that of the report of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s working group on centre-state relations, interlocutors report on J&K,  and Yashwant Sinha led delegation’s report.

 Pertinently, the Hurriyat had met earlier the group led by former BJP minister, Yashwant Sinha at his residence during 2016 uprising but had refused to meet the members of the All Party Delegation from New Delhi. Confirming the proposed meeting, Hurriyat (G) spokesman Ayaz Akbar said that the group will meet the chairman tomorrow.

Guest