New Delhi: Separatist leaders of Jammu and Kashmir call it an exercise in futility but the series of roundtable conferences on Kashmir have come to offer a lot of promises to Kashmiris. Though the Kashmir issue is too large to be resolved through such exercises, as far as the gains are concerned, roundtable conferences help in analysing the internal dynamics of the issue. The third such conference, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was held in New Delhi on Wednesday, delivering a host of promises. "The three roundtable conferences have offered an appropriate forum to address the internal dimensions of the Kashmir issue," says Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, former chief minister of the state. "The initiative must be supplemented by concrete bilateral (India-Pakistan) diplomatic measures to simultaneously take care of the external dimensions of the problem as well." However, the separatists yet again refused to attend the conference seeking to "find the relief for suffered lot". While each separatist leader had one reason or another to justify the boycott, their common argument was that they did not want to share the table with those who find themselves largely in agreement with New Delhi.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad regretted the non-participation of separatists. "Had representatives of separatist ideology availed themselves of the historic opportunity and participated in the roundtable conferences and working groups, they could have expressed their viewpoints and contributed towards finding a concrete solution to the problem," Azad said a statement on Wednesday. "There is no logic in shying away from an event which talks about Kashmir and the Kashmir problem," said Azhar Baba, a political science lecturer in a Srinagar college. Azhar said even if separatists had differences they could have expressed themselves on the table. "Nobody would have sought their consent on a gunpoint.

"In a matter of debate where Kashmiris are held as an aggrieved party, separatists could have exploited the situation to put forth their point of view," Azhar said. "The (Kashmir) issue is too big to be resolved between Kashmiris and New Delhi but at least such exercises can be viewed as reconciliatory measures and should be grabbed," said Subbaya Masoodi, a lawyer at Srinagar High Court. However, Bashir Ahmed Dabla of Kashmir University said: "The roundtable conference has turned out to be a failure. The recommendations of working groups are aimed at economic development but these won't serve much until the ground situation in the state changes for good and people feel a sigh of relief."

The third roundtable conference favoured increased movement of people and good across the Line of Control (LoC), strengthening mechanism for relief of victims of militancy and violence and sought strengthening of human rights protection among the a host of other promises. Four of the five working groups - constituted by Manmohan Singh at the end of second roundtable held in Srinagar in May 2006 - have submitted their reports and recommended measures to resolve various internal issues, while the group on strengthening centre-state relations is yet to submit its suggestions. (IANS)