Remember the Kashmir Committee of Ram Jethmalani, the angry old man of Indian politics? What exactly has it achieved since it was formed six months ago and hogged publicity for a while thereafter? And what is that committee up to now?

Jethmalani chose to give his committee's status report in an 1,100-word op-ed article in The Asian Age, Mumbai, January 28, 2003. Below are its 'significant steps forward:'

1. After three rounds of talks, the committee has got the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to affirm that all political groups and governments concerned must rise above their traditional positions and abandon extreme stands to show such flexibility and realism as will lead to an acceptable, honourable and durable solution. And the Hurriyat has condemned all forms of violence -- by the 'militants or by the state security forces.'
2. The Hurriyat and the committee have emphasised that all those who were forced to migrate within and out of Jammu and Kashmir state should be speedily helped to return to their homes, be fully rehabilitated and be provided comprehensive protection.
3. The committee and Shabir Shah, chief of the Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (an advocate of separatism), have jointly called for a greater degree of protection for the liberty and life of the people of J&K. Several measures suggested in this respect form, in fact, part of the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government's 'healing touch' policy.
4. After being initially dismissed by Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister of J&K, his National Conference party has conceded that the committee could play a useful role towards a dialogue on Kashmir.

If Jethmalani expects any of the above to be accepted as his committee's 'lo and behold' achievements, it is a sad reflection on his perception of our intelligence and our understanding of the J&K problem.

After all, who is there alive in this land who doesn't want an honourable and durable solution of that issue? Who doesn't want the thousands upon thousands of Kashmiri Pandits to return to their native soil, their dignity and status fully restored? Who is there alive -- in India -- who wants violence to solve the problem? If anyone here expresses a different viewpoint, he and his organisation would be naïve if not entirely nuts.

And the Hurriyat, J&KDFP, National Conference and the Mufti clan are not naïve by any yardstick of measure. Ergo, what's the big deal in getting a certificate of utility from Farooq Abdullah or in making the others mouth platitudes and sentiments that Jethmalani dubs as his committee's 'significant steps forward'?

Anyone who knows anything about J&K knows that the cancer of J&K is Pakistan and Pakistan alone. The 23 parties constituting the Hurriyat, J&KDFP, J&K Liberation Front et al are but small fries. Get Pakistan to come out of its asinine arrogance, to accept the historic reality, and to give up its senseless jihadi infiltration into J&K, and Kashmir is on its way to a mature compromise from both sides -- India and Pakistan. Get that done and the small fries will fall in line before withering away into history.

But Jethmalani's committee has gone about it the other way around. He hasn't had the audacity he displays in judicial courts to confront Pervez Musharraf headlong on a solution to the J&K problem. He hasn't displayed his customary mastery over legalities to put up India's case to Pakistan and the rest of the world. Instead, he has wasted six months chatting with the small fries, getting them to peddle platitudes and garnering self-publicity in the process at a time when his public career is in the twilight. What a pity it has all been!

He will, of course, not deviate from his chosen course, his obstinate nature being what it is.

That is why, according to his self-written status report, his committee is presently awaiting to meet the Kashmir Committee of Pakistan -- the KC of Pak, please note, not the President of Pak. And what will he get out of those discussions? More unanimous resolutions on the need for a peaceful, honourable solution 'in keeping with the wishes of the people,' and, of course, more sound bytes on prime time television.

If Jethmalani hasn't the courage to confront Musharraf, and if he wants to be in the limelight nevertheless while simultaneously doing something truly worthwhile for his country, then he must quickly begin talking sense into Mufti Mohammad Sayeed over the two remarks the latter made in Anantnag on January 12 when he was 70 days into his reign as chief minister of J&K.

The Mufti had, on that day, made two points in a public address: i. Unemployment is one of the main reasons behind the unrest in the state (something which this commentator has stated more than once in the past in these columns) and ii. 'If the central government wants to prevent this fire from spreading, it should open the doors of its coffers.' (The Asian Age, Mumbai, January 13, 2003.)

There, Mr Jethmalani, you have it from the horse's mouth -- the root cause of the proliferation of the activities of the Hurriyat, the J&KDFP et al. In a nutshell, it's the economy, stupid, as far as the internal strife of J&K is concerned. And it's in that area that the Jethmalani Committee must concentrate its energies even as it waits to meet the KC of Pak after the latter gets the nod from the Pres of Pak.

The Jethmalani Committee must tell the Mufti that simply going to Mumbai to woo industrialists to invest in his state is not going to work. To succeed in that mission, he must first amend the state law (facilitated by Article 370 of the Indian Constitution) that prohibits outsiders from acquiring property in J&K and creates other forms of discrimination against them as well. And, as the famous film personality, Anupam Kher, told him in Mumbai on January 23, 'Muftisahab, before seeking Bollywood, spend some time in the camps of Kashmiri Pandits.' Javed Akhtar, film lyricist, rubbed it in by saying 'You can't bring peace unless Kashmiri Pandits are resettled.' (http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=17208).

As regards the Mufti wanting Delhi to open its coffers for J&K, the Jethmalani Committee must drive home to him that Delhi's per capita non-security expenditure on an average citizen of J&K is seven to ten times more than that spent on an average citizen of the rest of the country. Clearly, it's time for J&K to alter its utterly selfish statutes and attitudes. It's high time that, for a change, J&K thinks of giving at least something to the rest of India in return for all that it has drained from all of us outside Srinagar. It's only when the extreme financial dependence on Delhi ends, and when it ceases to look upon its relationship with Delhi as merely a one-way traffic to Srinagar -- it's only then that there will be a ring of truth in the words Mehbooba Sayeed uttered to Bollywood people: ''Hum kashkol le kar nahin ayen hai' (We have not come with a begging bowl.)

Regretfully, such thoughts of economic realism are seemingly beyond the thinking of the Jethmalani Committee. Thus, in his status report article in The Asian Age cited earlier here, he prefers to indulge in court room rhetoric when he dubs the seven members of his committee as the Pandavas humbly beseeching the Lord Krishnas of Srinagar, Jammu, Muzaffarabad, Delhi and Islamabad for help to win a battle -- not over territory but over hearts and minds.

Jethmalani must really be getting too old for comfort. Not only does he equate seven with five but also creates five Lord Krishnas when only one can ever exist in the minds and hearts of humanity. What's more, he seeks help from Lord Krishna without even mentioning the evils called Dhritarashtra, Duryodhan and Sakuni. Has Jethmalani then got even the Mahabharata wrong just for some sound bytes on prime time television?