DIALOGUE is the only way to resolve the Kashmir issue. This is the common prevailing notion. Various factors have impeded a real dialogue in the greater interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Perhaps the moot question is: with whom to have a dialogue?

In the past years, on several occasions the government of India tried to initiate dialogue with separatists but ultimately they failed to achieve any breakthrough. Regardless of whether a dialogue is going on or not the separatists go on playing their old game of carrying out ‘anti-India campaign’ and instigating the people.
For an effective dialogue it is imperative that there should be a common ground to take off. But in the Kashmir issue the separatists continue to hold on to their one and only issue of ‘independence’. There should be some kind of space to enter into dialogue for finding a solution to the impasse. Unfortunately this is completely missing. The fact is almost all the separatist leaders are like islands. They lack effective control on the masses. Instigating a group of youngsters to indulge in arson and violence is one thing but it is an arduous task to make them involve in state building task. For that the separatists should have a blueprint before them.
Look at Ms Asiya Andrabi, the chief of pro-Pakistan separatist organisation Dukhteran-e-Milat, a constituent of the Syed Ali Geelani faction of the Hurriyat who was arrested on Saturday by Jammu and Kashmir police. She is one of the masterminds of the current unrest in the Kashmir valley and is primarily responsible for forcing the women along with their kids to come out on the streets. But throughout her separatist career she never undertook any constructive approach to the problems of the women in the valley. If she was really concerned over the welfare of the Kashmiri women she could have mobiliszed them and forced the government to redress their issues. But she was more interested in spearheading “Quit Kashmir campaign” at the behest of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.    
Take the case of yet another separatist leader, Masarat Alam. He is an Islamic radical and he promises that the protestors would not throw stones. His statement simply gives force to the suspicion that stone throwing at police were the tactics of the protestors. They resorted to it only to create the impression that armed forces were repressive and violated human rights in the Valley. In fact this was part of their conspiracy to give a bad name to the armed and paramilitary forces and build up a strong lobby for their removal from Kashmir.     
One thing is absolutely clear: the so-called azadi-seekers do not have their own agenda. They are mouthing borrowed phrases from Pakistan. Had it not been the case they would not have resorted to organising rallies in Srinagar, Sopore and Kunzar where curfew is in force. Any action must have some rationale. But the action of the separatists lacks rationale. They are aware that their activities have badly affected the economy of the state and the ultimate sufferers are common people; even then they continue to indulge in such activities. The Government of India should not give them any opportunity to complain and interact with the common people, students and youths, and for this it should use the various democratic institutions, unions and organisations. The confidence building exercise should begin with interaction with the political institution and legal profession of the state as they have turned quite vulnerable to the separatist tactics. Ironically this vulnerability is being projected as the sign of their irrelevance.