Aarush
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As India awaits Narendra Modi, flickers of hope are showing up in Kashmir that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate will do his best to resolve the Kashmir issue.
And living up to the expectation, Modi has launched his ' Mission Kashmir' by reaching out to the hardline separatists in the Valley.
Just last month he reportedly sent emissaries - two Kashmiri Pandits - to Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference.
With that one move, Modi has made it clear that he wants to usher in a new beginning in the troubled state.
Geelani, who has called for a poll boycott in Kashmir, on Friday confirmed that Modi's emissaries did meet him and had offered to facilitate talks with Modi to seek the latter's commitment on Kashmir issue.
"On March 22, two Kashmiri Pandits came to me. They claimed to represent Modi.
They insisted that they could indirectly connect me to Modi. But I refused," Geelani said. He, however, did not reveal the names of the persons who met him.
Geelani, who has consistently called for the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, said he was making public the conversation between him and the two emissaries because he believes in politics of principles. " I am not the person who says one thing in a closeddoor meeting and another in a public meeting.
That is not my way," Geelani, who returned to the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday after a prolonged stay in New Delhi for a medical check- up, said this at his residence here. " Kashmiri Pandits are our brothers. They came to my house and I welcomed them.
They are part of us. But I also told them how could I contact a person who was heading Gujarat when a pogrom happened in 2002," he said.
Geelani said Modi's overture is " indicative that he is trying to create a soft corner for himself within the freedom camp". However, even as other separatists are pinning hopes on Modi, Geelani is yet to be convinced. He said those who have stated that Modi's policy would be Kashmir- friendly and those who are issuing statements in favour of Modi have actually met Modi's emissaries. " These emissaries of Narendra Modiji might have gone to other pro- freedom leaders as well. That is why you saw many pro- Modi statements from the pro- freedom camp," Geelani said.
The Hurriyat Conference moderate faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq - which hopes that Modi would follow footsteps of Vajpayee once he becomes the prime minister - said they would react to Geelani's statement on Saturday.
"We will definitely react to claims of Geelani. But we will react on Saturday," Shahid- ul- Islami, spokesman of Hurriyat moderate faction told M AIL T ODAY . Incidentally, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, leader of the moderate Hurriyat faction and Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti had last month issued statements in which they had lauded the National Democratic Alliance ( NDA) government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee for its effort to reach out to the Kashmiris.
Mirwaiz had said NDA government's performance on Kashmir front was far better than the UPA I and II. Modi certainly knows about the confidence he has inspired among many in the Valley.
However, he has to undo the errors committed by others that aggravated the problem and gave separatists like Geelani opportunities to question any peace initiative. On Friday Geelani ridiculed both the NC and PDP, and said both parties believe in status quo.
" Our issue is that Jammu and Kashmir is disputed territory and we seek its solution as per wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Geelani said.
While India believes in democratic process of elections, Geelani has been calling for a poll boycott in Kashmir. On Friday he reiterated his stance. " On 24 April, people should observe a civil curfew in South Kashmir when it goes to polls. Likewise on April 30, May 7 when polls will be held in Srinagar and Baramulla people should observe a civil curfew," he said. Geelani also alleged that presence of lakhs of troops and police in Jammu and Kashmir indicated that India was holding on to Kashmir.
So, even as Modi endeavours to launch a peace dialogue with the separatists in the Valley, he will have to tackle a hawkish 85- yearold Geelani. Perhaps Vajpayee's humane approach towards the Kashmir problem will remain Modi's guiding principle to deal with the hardliners. And with that hopefully one day the unyielding hardliners will understand that Kashmir too has a bright future with rest of India.
Modi's emissaries were the first messengers of that hope.
Read more at: Narendra Modi sends emissaries to reach out to hardline Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani : Mail Today, News - India Today
........... he already has a solution in mind and that solution does not involve Gilani or pakistan 
