We’ll recommend J&K’s solution within Indian Constitution: Padgoankar

After 11 months of equivocation, interlocutors uncover themselves to the best of Delhi’s liking in Srinagar

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 21: This autumnal equinox has come with veritable change of colour among the Centre’s interlocutors who raised speculations of an “out of box” solution for the last eleven months of their academic picnic but wrapped up their Mission Kashmir today to the best of their masters’ liking. Head of the three-member team, Dileep Padgaonkar, made it unambiguously clear that the final report, to be submitted to union Home Minister P Chidambaram before October 12^th, would recommend solution to the political problem of Jammu and Kashmir “within the framework of the (Indian) Constitution”.

Hours before concluding their 11-month-long study tour and interaction with stakeholders---remarkably without any separatist leader’s involvement---Centre’s interlocutors, Dileep Padgoankar, Radha Kumar and M M Ansari, made it clear at their news conference that their report to New Delhi would recommend a solution to the political problem of Jammu and Kashmir “within the framework of the (Indian) Constitution”. “Any solution outside the Constitution is impossible and impracticable. Not only people across the country but also majority of the state subjects in all three regions want a solution within the framework of the Constitution. That’s what we are recommending in our report”, principal interlocutor Dileep Padgaonkar said.

Padgoankar asserted that solution to the political problem would have to be in conformity with the aspirations of the people of entire Jammu and Kashmir state. He claimed that solution to all problems within the Indian Constitution was the aspiration of almost all the people in Jammu and Ladakh regions besides a reasonable majority in Kashmir valley. He revealed that his team would submit the final report to the Centre before October 12^th next---shortly before completing its one-year life.

The interlocutors said that there were many ways and means to satisfy the economic, developmental, social and cultural aspirations of the people living in different regions of the state but the political problem would have to be addressed on an all-inclusive basis and with regard to aspirations of the majority of the state subjects. They claimed that during their numerous visits to all three regions of the state and interaction with cross-sections of the population, they observed that most of the people wanted a solution within the framework of the Constitution.

Without indicating treatment to any of the proposals and formulae---including the much speculated Greater Autonomy of National Conference and Self Rule of PDP--- Padgoankar made it clear that the interlocutors’ final report would not recommend division or trifurcation of the state. He said that he and his colleagues were convinced that sovereignty and integrity of the state was a fait accompli and there was no question of breaking it into different administrative units. He, however, suggested that delegation of more powers to the state would satisfy the aspiration of a large number of people.

When it was pointed out to the interlocutors that none of the separatist leaders had interacted with them---excluding a dramatic meeting imposed on Maulvi Abbas Ansari at his home---they asserted that the separatists had “lost a valuable opportunity”. They claimed that they had made best of their efforts to rope in the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders, and also offered them every convenience of meeting, but it was unfortunate that they did not respond positively. Padgoankar suggested that all through the period, Hurriyat and other separatist outfits laboured under “compulsions”. He declined to elaborate.

Padgoankar claimed credit for the change Kashmir witnessed in the last one year. According to him, this total transformation, in sharp contrast to turbulent summer of 2010, was attributable to New Delhi’s decision of sending a team of interlocutors to Jammu and Kashmir. He pointed out that during this period Panchayat elections of the highest ever peoples’ participation had been conducted smoothly in Jammu and Kashmir and all-time high tourist traffic had been recorded in the state. Padgoankar’s statement is expected to evoke a strongly negative reaction from all hues of Kashmiri separatists who have been alleging from day one that it was all “part of an Indian exercise to hoodwink the world over Kashmir problem”.

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