‘Will only put down what people say’

The head of the committee,Dileep Padgaonkar,told The Indian Express ,“The political,economic and cultural aspirations in Jammu and Kashmir differ from region to region and within each region,from one community to another. Therefore,to appraise the aspirations from the prism of any one region or community would grossly distort the realities on the ground.”

The interlocutors have just concluded a two-day meeting in Srinagar with academics and intellectuals,and a meeting in Jammu with the legal fraternity.

“On every issue,the people’s aspirations and what they think,we will only be putting down what people say. It will be for the several stakeholders to reconcile things with each other and arrive at a consensus. We will not prescribe anything,” Padgaonkar said.

Making it clear that the interlocutors are operating well within the existing boundaries of J&K and have virtually ruled out any recommendations that would make a case for trifurcation of the state or suggest changes in the special status the state enjoys under Article 370,he said; “Our endeavour is to address each and every real or perceived sense of victimhood in the state and this without disturbing the state’s unity and territorial integrity and without denting the special status the state enjoys in the Indian Union.”

On March 16,The Indian Express reported that the report would essentially rekindle significant aspects of the autonomy debate in the state. Padgaonkar said that “nomenclatures of this or that office is the least of our concerns. We need to move away from symbolism and slogans to substance and the substance is the mechanism that would allow all the people of the state to exercise their democratic rights without fear and favour”.

The three-member committee,which also has academician Radha Kumar and development economist and former Information Commissioner M M Ansari,was appointed in October last year to explore possible solutions to the Kashmir issue.