When the all-party delegation visits Kashmir on its listening brief next week, as per the schedule being drawn up now, it may well find it is either being given a hot reception or the cold shoulder by the outfits that make up the Mirwaiz and the Geelani factions of the Hurriyat Conference.
But that should not deter the politicos from seeking to make contact with the countless brave men and women in the Valley who have been participating in state and Parliament elections since 2002 as candidates or active supporters of candidates, such as election agents, booth managers and support staff.
The ground for this should be prepared in advance — the delegation could insist on this — by the administration and the local committees of the parties that are active in Kashmir.
The way it has turned out in the last eight years, the MPs and others may discover that many former democracy enthusiasts have slipped into a shell, or have been co-opted — willingly or after being threatened or beaten into submission — into the praetorian guards of the jihadist right that has been slowly consolidating itself as leaders of mainline politics patted themselves on the back and looked to the spoils of office.
Worse, the visitors may discover that neither Srinagar not Delhi has paid much heed to the viewpoint of those whose participation made elections possible. This forced the pro-democracy elements into the background and created conditions for the full-blast return of the religio-extremist storm-troopers who lay dormant.
It is the violent return of these contingents, and the swelling of their ranks since the others were sleeping, which led last Monday to the burning of a Christian missionary school in Tangmarg and the torching of several government buildings in the valley following rumours of the alleged desecration of the Quran in the US.
It is noteworthy that such violence was not staged in a single Muslim country in the world. Kashmir became an exception among Islamic societies although its basic ethos remains deeply tolerant. The pity is that those who would naturally stand up for this hoary thought tolerance have been forced into sullen silence by circumstances. The challenge for the political delegation is to appreciate the full magnitude of this on account of which there is fear in society, and anxiety in the administration. In the end, only an adequate political response can set matters right.
In its absence, the administration will continue to tilt at shadows. It is not chief minister Omar Abdullah who has lost the plot, as Mehbooba Mufti likes to say. The real fear is that upholders of a democratic order may be losing the plot.