Though the meeting of former Hurriyat Conference Chairman Prof Ab Gani Bhat with central government’s special representative may generate a sense of achievement for the Modi government but undeniable fact is that Prof Bhat is neither a force to reckon with nor an acceptable voice to the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Hurriyat Conference (G) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Molvi Umar Farooq and JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik. Prof Bhat in the aftermath of his role in the splitting the erstwhile Hurriyat Conference into splinter parts almost 15 years back and his controversial role in the affairs of Mirwaiz led Hurriyat Conferece not once but many a times in the past is suffering from both the crisis of identity and as well as crisis of recognition. Prof Bhat among the top separatist leaders is the only who many a times in recent years shared dias with top mainstream leaders of the state and his meeting with late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed before the formation of PDP-BJP coalition government was condemned by all the separatist voices in Kashmir.
Prof Bhat may be a separatist voice for the Modi government on which it can bank upon but in Kashmir he (Prof Bhat) is a rolling stone that gathers no mass.
So his meeting with Dineshwar Sharma can’t be attributed to any conflict in the policy of the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) over the issue of dialogue with New Delhi either through Modi government’s spl representative Dineshwar or any one else. As all the options exercised by Modi government for restoration of peace and normalcy have exhausted, the only satisfying response to the dialogue initiative of the Modi government could be the meeting of Prof Bhat with Dineshwar Sharma. The ground reality in Kashmir itself speaks that any political engagement without the involvement of the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) won’t satisfy the political ego of angered people in Kashmir valley. Since the intensity of public anger against the Modi government has increased several hundred times due to continuing Cordons and Search Operations (CASO) in civilian populations, the meetings of Dineshwar Sharma even with many more separatist leaders excepting the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Hurriyat Conference (G) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Hurriyat Conference(M) Mirwaiz Molvi Umar Farooq and JKLF Chairman Yaseen Malik won’t give any sense of achievement to the people who has lost their teenage sons in the continuing street protests during last two years. Not meeting with separatist like Prof Bhat suffering from both the crisis of identity and as well as crisis of recognition but the release of all categories of stone pelters and political prisoners is the only way to generate a congenial atmosphere for talks with the Joint Resistance Leadership. Prof Bhat may be a separatist voice for the Modi government on which it can bank upon but in Kashmir he (Prof Bhat) is a rolling stone that gathers no mass.
