Quiet and hush hush dialogue and Kashmir seem two contradictory things! Kashmiris are amongst the most intelligent, inquisitive, enterprising and hardy people in the world. They have withstood umpteen onslaughts in their long chequered history. Time has taught them when to be “Quiet” and when to be “Vociferous”. If any body thinks that he can do something quietly in Kashmir, that person is sadly mistaken. Rather that person is totally ignorant of Kashmir’s history and a Kashmiri’s psyche. Apparently, the things may appear covert or quiet but every body has the means and the ingenious wherewithal to know what is actually happening and what is the real truth. The most important source of gossip which sometimes turns out to be uncannily true is the baker’s shop. Every morning people gather there to buy freshly baked Kashmiri bread. One has to wait one’s turn and the wait may sometimes extend to an hour or more. This waiting time is utilised by the people to verbally exchange notes about various happenings in the locality; in the state; in the country, and quite often, in the world! The discussion at the baker’s shop shows how politically conscious Kashmiris have become over the years. Similar discussions take place at the barber’s shop. However, the number of people involved is far less than at the baker’s shop. The two places are the best sources for inside information. Incidentally, Kashmir society is so compact and intertwined that nothing remains hidden for a long time. Even the proceedings of the state cabinet are known outside before the government issues a formal press note. I am reminded of a joke about keeping of secrets in Kashmir. During the tenure of Sheikh Abdullah when the Government was stationed in Jammu, Mrs. Indira Gandhi was supposed to come to Srinagar on a secret visit, totally unannounced. On my phoning a senior officer at Jammu from Srinagar about the purpose of the clandestine visit, he was totally surprised how I knew about it as it was a well guarded secret. He had the heartiest laugh when I told him that the safaiwala had told me as he had come late to clean the roads near our house in Jawahar Nagar. On my admonishing him as to why he was late, he had simply told me that they were all busy cleaning the main airport road as Indira Ji was coming! In these circumstances, holding quiet talks in Kashmir is purposeless. It will rather give rise to worse issues than the authorities are aiming to resolve.

Kashmir’s greatest misfortune has been the secret and clandestine dialogues, whether these are held in Islamabad and Delhi or Srinagar and Muzaffarabad. Everything unusual in Kashmir is due to underground happenings whether engineered by ISI and FIA or RAW and IB. The political situation has become so murky that no one is sure who is doing what or who represents whom? Once I asked a senior officer in Delhi as to why all wrong steps were being initiated by Government of India? Didn’t the people in Delhi know the ground situation in Kashmir? Well, his stark reply was, “In Delhi right hand does not know what the left hand is doing!” The situation is no better or one should worse in Islamabad! There some people are doing much more from within the government without the actual “Government” knowing about it! The tragic incidents of last two decades have starkly demonstrated that whenever any “Quiet” or clandestine dialogue was initiated in Kashmir, it resulted in a tragedy. The killing of Moulvi Farooq, Ghani Lone, and Dar, the HM leader are all attributed to “Quiet” diplomacy. The very recent one is the attack on Fazal Haq Quereshi. No one owns responsibility. Neither the state nor the non-state actors own it. No one is able to unearth the “conspiracy” and the process goes on. We may never know the truth of all these tragic happenings but the people at the baker’s shop know it and talk to each other in hushed tones. All clarifications, denials, and rebuttals cut no ice and the story goes on because it is part of the “Quiet” process! There are umpteen non-governmental organisations which have been conducting behind the scenes dialogues and discussions with the members of civil society from all sides but have reached no where. Their recommendations and sometimes very urgent pleas to the authorities on both sides have not made much difference because the security establishments refuse to budge. One fails to understand why the state should persist with these clandestine means when the past is so murky and tragic? Are they trying to unearth an Aladdin’s Lamp which by rubbing can bring out the genie to sort out all the decades old problems? At this rate we may have to wait for a couple of generations more before any solutions are found.

There is only one way to move ahead. An open and transparent dialogue without any pre-conditions between the real stake holders. Each side can put its cards on the table and start a discussion. However, the beneficiaries of the conflict cannot be among the stake holders. How can the people who have always thrived because of the conflict be made a party for its resolution? Nor can the umpteen so called “popular” leaders propped up by various agencies and organisations be made a party to the ultimate solution. The solution is for the suffering common people and to be a lasting one, it should also come from them. Honest, upright, and learned representatives from various sections of the civil society trusted by their own people could be main part of the dialogue process. It is not mandatory that the people who participate in such far reaching and decisive parleys are politicians only! The solution has to be evolutionary and not an imposed one. Something worked out clandestinely behind closed doors may create more problems than solve the existing ones. On the contrary something coming up in an open forum with a wider participation may be more acceptable and durable even if it is only an approach and not a final solution. All concerned need to give a serious thought to the proposition of holding an open and transparent unconditional dialogue than getting bogged down in back channels with numerous pitfalls.