Police didn't kill Hurriyat leader: M K Narayanan

NO COMPROMISE: M K Narayanan says if PM's commitments to Parliament are not met, India won't endorse the agreement.

        

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

Hello and welcome to Devil’s Advocate. In a special two-part interview with the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, I shall today discuss the the crisis in the Kashmir Valley and the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Karan Thapar: We have seen lakh of people coming out, demanding azadi, carrying slogans, shouting jeve ji Pakistan, Bharat teri maut aayi and often the administration stands by and does nothing. As National Security Advisor, how serious is the situation in the Valley?

M K Narayanan: I think far less serious than what is being portrayed, but at the same time it is certainly something that we are very unhappy about .

Karan Thapar: Why do you say far less serious?

M K Narayanan: People have started comparing it with 1990s and what not. Certainly the situation is nowhere near to that. But what is causing us concern is that four years of improvement in the situation, I believe that we have reduced levels of alienation. There were substantial signs of normal scenes in the state. People had forgotten about issues that had no major concern other than the day-to-day problems of living, better electricity, Internet connections, etc. It suddenly seems to have been pushed to the background and mobs have come out on the street.

Karan Thapar: People say that during those four years when Kashmir looked as if it was approaching normalcy, the Government became complacent and it discontinued its talks with Hurriyat and therefore, today, in a sense, you are reaping the harvest of negligence.

M K Narayanan: Contrary to what these people say, I don't think the Hurriyat is the principal voice in the Valley. We recognise that Hurriyat has certain voice, but I think there are mainstream political parties too. We have been having elections since 2000, well even before 2000.

Karan Thapar: Isn't it worse than that? Hasn't it become a spontaneous movement with hundreds of thousands coming out not under the Hurriyat control, certainly not under PDP and National Conference control, but the people seem to have developed a mood, and it is a mood for azadi or secessionism.

M K Narayanan: I would beg to disagree on this point. There was an agitation over the issue of what was wrongly referred to as handing over or diversion of land, when actually what was being done was user rights. But perhaps it was not unnecessary. It was an uncalled for mistake.

Karan Thapar: But today it is way beyond Amarnath.

M K Narayanan: I think it was the blockade on the national highway that produced a certain concern in the Valley.

Karan Thapar: So, you accept that there was a blockade?

M K Narayanan: For a day-and-a-half there was some disruption of traffic. It was not a total blockade but there was disruption. The truck traffic dropped, if there were say 100 trucks going, it came down to 15-20, but it was just for a day-and-a-half. But, today it is back to 85-90 trucks.

Karan Thapar: And, then there was this shooting when the March to Muzaffarabad was first attempted.