Srinagar, October 16
The moderate faction of Hurriyat may have begun taking tentative steps towards peace talks with New Delhi, but the danger of sabotage from within the separatist camp, as often was the case in the past, remains the biggest concern.

Like a man, who has learnt his lessons, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Hurriyat (M) chairman, today stressed the need for a “broader consensus” in the secessionist camp in his Friday speech at Charar-e-Sharif today. He said he wanted to take all like-minded people like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, an Islamist hardliner who has kept quiet so far on the proposed negotiations, and JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, who has also maintained silence.

Even as emissaries from New Delhi and the separatist camp draw contours of talks, the significance of the Mirwaiz reaching out to a larger audience with his speech from Charar-e-Sharif instead of his traditional seat in the Jamia Masjid in downtown was not lost on many.

“It’s most important that all leaders with similar ideologies walk together,” his party leader Salim Geelani said. And he mentioned “Geelani sahib” again and again, knowing well that the patriarch of the anti-India movement in the valley always had the potential of torpedoing the talks.

He is unlikely to endorse the talks openly, his colleagues say, and would see the moves of his rivals from the separatist camp and New Delhi before making a call. The Mirwaiz has often been at the receiving end of Geelani and his colleagues for his previous four round of talks with the first NDA regime and then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as they proved unproductive. In fact, the Mirwaiz left the talks midway in 2006 largely due to pressure from Geelani and militant outfits like the Hizbul Mujahideen, which toes Geelani’s line.

The Mirwaiz has assigned Bilal Lone and Fazal-ul-Haq Qureshi the responsibility of holding talks with leaders like Geelani and Malik.

Leaders from the Mirwaiz camp and government sources said the talks would be low-key and away from the media glare so that the separatists not buckle under pressure of expectations from their constituency. “What harmed talks last time was the barrage of questions from the media and ideological rivals as to what the Mirwaiz has achieved. As time passed and no results were reached, he chickened out,” an official said.

Wary of being accused of toeing New Delhi’s line, the Mirwaiz repeated demands like the release of the separatist leader and the repeal of “black laws” like the AFSPA and the Disturbed Area Act, besides demilitarisation for making conducive atmosphere for talks.