With the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) set to discuss the Kashmir situation on Monday, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Sunday said the immediate need was not a “political solution,” but the leadership should reach out to Kashmiris emotionally.
Mr. Aiyar, who was asked to comment on the government's move to offer a political package and discussions about measures such as partial withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, however, said the withdrawal of the Act would “certainly be a confidence-building measure.”
He said efforts should be made to reassure the Kashmiris that the “whole of India is with them and everyone considers them as Indians” like any other citizens of the country.
“Instead of trying to find a political situation in such an atmosphere, I think our leadership, including MPs, should be reaching out to the people and saying that the death of your child is the death of my child. And I feel as deeply for you as I would have felt if my child had gone,” he told journalists on the sidelines of a function.
“Empathy missing”
He said the “human empathy” of feeling sad when someone died had been “missing” ever since the death of a 17-year-old boy in Kashmir on June 11.
“The crux of the issue is local police, most of whom are Kashmiris and therefore Muslims, are the ones who are opening fire on fellow Muslim Kashmiris and, therefore, the key is to get the State government to provide the kind of training and attention to their police forces to use non-lethal weapons to control the crowds,” he said.
He said the valley had been “perfectly tranquil” for the past some years, but “we have not initiated a process of uninterrupted dialogue” with the entire spectrum of Kashmiri opinion.
The problem
“What is the point of talking to the huge number of Kashmiris who actually want to be remain in India? They are not the problem. The problem is precisely those who say they are separatists and those who want to join Pakistan. And, if we were to say we won't talk to you, then whom are we going to talk?” he asked.
