Advani to meet Hurriyat leaders today

Formal talks between the Centre represented by Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and a large faction of the separatist All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), led by Moulvi Abbas Ansari, will open today consolidating the feel-good factor that the government is fuelling prior to the elections.

A leader as senior as the Deputy Prime Minister and a group of Hurriyat leaders are having talks for the first time against the backdrop of improved relations with Pakistan, enhanced people-to-people contact and feeling that Kashmir is part of the Indian consciousness.

The talks are calculated to signal that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has solved yet another age-old problem without getting bogged down in historical baggage.

Though Advani has indicated that he will play the talks by the ear, the very fact that talks are being held is a positive political development that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to use in the forthcoming elections.

Although several important Kashmiri separatist leaders like Shabbir Shah and Ali Shah Gilani have not been invited for the talks, the government has calculated that the invitation to the relatively moderate Moulvi Ansari will drive a wedge within the APHC and weaken the group that argues for Kashmir's accession to Pakistan.

Ansari's position is that Kashmir should be an independent entity through a plebiscite. He is a Shia cleric who does not believe in the veil for women and thinks women should have an equal chance to access education.

The central government has responded to the Hurriyat leadership's plea that their grievances can only be redressed through a senior enough leader who can grant them some concessions.

The government is calculating that even if some concessions are indicated""at the level of intentions""it will make it much easier to soften up the Muslim leadership in the rest of India to accept a negotiated settlement on the Ayodhya issue.

Advani will kick off the talks today and they will be continued by the Centre's authorised interlocutor, NN Vohra. However, how the Centre will contend with the other Hurriyat leaders is not clear. Ali Shah Gilani is so fundamentally opposed to Moulvi Ansari that he did not turn up for the meeting (in July this year) where Ansari was elected.

It is these groups that will continue to represent militancy in Kashmir. Gilani's comment to reporters when talks with the Deputy Prime Minister were mooted was: "India has done it a number of times in the past. Without any guarantees on the agenda or a clear perception about what they would be talking about, I am constrained to mistrust their intentions."

But taking advantage of better ties with Pakistan, the Centre is bullish about the talks beginning tomorrow. "It is time to talk," said a home ministry official when asked how much the government will give to the moderate elements in the Hurriyat to strengthen its position.