Mission Kashmir 2006: Ditto 2005

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Kashmir will log on to 2006 on Sunday, and like the holiday, things will move very slowly, perhaps not much should be expected to change in the next 12 months: the trickle from LoC will not go off completely, militants and security forces will fight ferociously in the hinterland, fidayeen will keep on testing their grid in the city, may be the year sees more of centre-Hurriyat photo-ops, Musharraf's straight talk and New Delhi's cautious trudge towards peace. More cross-Loc buses, opening of border points or more occassions for people of two kashmirs to meet each other. But on Ground Zero, Kashmir will move in a holiday style; slowly and clumsily. Things can go horribly wrong in one go between India and Pakistan. A single incident can spoil the current bonhomie achieved after decades of hostility and hard postering. Optimistically speaking, they will not. Optimism should rather lead....