The contradictions over the appointment of new point man Dineshwar Sharma for Jammu & Kashmir in the statements of some ministers of the Modi government show that policy of the Modi government on Kashmir is still lacking direction and sincerity. When the central government and the Delhi’s new point man Dineshwar Sharma say that talks have to be within the ambit of India constitution the possibility of asking the separatist leadership even to react to the talks offer seems to be closed chapter. Since top separatist leaders not only once but thousand times in recent months and previous years have equivocally rejected the idea of joining talks within the ambit of Indian constitution , So doubts can be raised on the very objective of appointing Dineshwar Sharma as new point man for dialogue on Kashmir from both within and outside Jammu & Kashmir state. Had both the ministers of the Modi government and the interlocutor himself talked about the intents of holding talks without pre-conditions, the separatist leaders won’t find any scope and point to reject offer of talks from the new point man Dineshwar Sharma. Laughable for the people in Jammu & Kashmir are the contradictory statements of Jitendra Singh a senior BJP leader in Jammu & Kashmir and the Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Nirmal Singh the Deputy Chief Minister heading the BJP part of the coalition ministry headed by Mehbooba Mufti. While Jitendra Singh the MoS In PMO said that Dineshwar Sharma is not the interlocutor but the Special Representative of the Central Government on talks in Jammu & Kashmir and new point man Dineshwar Sharma himself said “no one can afford to talk outside Indian Constitution”, a message went out that Modi government too has initiated a process of dialogue just to buy time but not to reach a widely acceptable agreement with the people challenging state’s accession with India and imposition of several central laws in the state .
To clear the impression of divergence in ideas on dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir it is for the central BJP top brass to clear the doubts created by the contradicting statements of Jitendra Singh and Nirmal Singh on dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir.
Though Jitendra Singh the MoS in PMO by virtue of his statement tried to clarify that talks with the separatists within the Indian constitution is not the idea of Modi government’s Kashmir resolution but Nirmal Singh Deputy Chief Minister and virtually head of the BJP part of coalition ministry in Mehbooba government has created a confusion both among the people and the political class by saying that Hurriyat is an important stakeholder in talks on Jammu & Kashmir. Jitendra Singh the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office and Nirmal Singh Deputy Chief Minister in the Mehbooba government by virtue of their contradicting positions have created an impression that BJP due to obvious factionalism in the party has taken two divergent positions on Jammu & Kashmir. To clear the impression of divergence in ideas on dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir it is for the central BJP top brass to clear the doubts created by the contradicting statements of Jitendra Singh and Nirmal Singh on dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir.
