Kashmir gets its 15 minutes of lament

Srinagar: If there is anything a Kashmir Valley politician knows best it's posturing, for in that lies the continuous appeal of his 'politics of grievance.' It should be no surprise that an all-party delegation representing all sections of the Indian political spectrum, dispatched to connect with all sections of the Kashmiri populace and politicians, should bump into 'postures' of differing kinds from various Valley politicians.

For starters, one of the key stakeholders in 'mainstream' politics, the People's Democratic Party has adopted the lofty position that its president, Mehbooba Mufti, will not meet the delegation but will instead allow a 14-member party delegation from the party to put its position across. PDP general secretary, Mohd Dilawar Meer, will head the delegation.

The party has complained that the delegation's inability to meet the people was a serious setback for all peacekeeping efforts and that the perpetual round of curfews was actually a plot to keep the people indoors when the delegation came to visit.

The list of absentee stakeholders grows with Hurriyat Conference factional leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the self-declared 'chief' of the pompously titled Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Yasin Malik, skipping the meet but consenting to submit a memorandum instead.

If politics is all about having your cake and eating it too then this should be most convenient.

"It is a creative memorandum. Hope it is taken in the right spirit and that the delegation understands the pulse of the people," Malik said. The Indian home minister, amongst his many avatars also being a lawyer of some repute, should be able to separate facts from the 'creativity'.