New Delhi
27 March 2007
A working group on Jammu and Kashmir will meet in New Delhi on
Thursday to discuss Centre-state relations including regional autonomy. The working
group has met twice, in New Delhi and Jammu, since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
announced the setting up of this and four other working groups at the Srinagar
Roundtable in May last year.
New Delhi's interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir NN Vohra on Tuesday told this
newspaper that the "Working Group Number Five" would discuss the entire gamut of
Centre-state relations with reference to Jammu and Kashmir. Regional autonomy will be
on the agenda, he said on the sidelines of a function held at the Institute of Social
Sciences for releasing a report on federalism.
National Conference President and Member of Parliament Omar Abdullah released the
report of the conference on "Indian Federalism At Work", which was held at Srinagar in
August last year. On the occasion, he said that Mufti Mohammad Syed's demand for
reduction of troops in Jammu and Kashmir would have carried credibility if he had said
so when he (Mufti) was chief minister.
"I would have given it more credibility if he had said this when he was chief minister," Mr
Abdullah said in response to a question. He felt that his party's demand for autonomy
"could be the starting point for dialogue". "No amount of economic package ... from Rs
1,000 crore by Rajiv Gandhi to Rs 24,000 crore announced by Mr Manmohan Singh ...
will not solve [the problem]," he said.
"[It] requires political handling ... and regional autonomy will further the ability of the
state to decide its future and to have a say in use of resources. It is not an ideal magic
solution but ... if PDP has a better proposal, we are willing to work alongside with them
but we are hoping for some document from them on their proposals like self-rule," Mr
Abdullah observed.
He asserted that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) must be reviewed. "[It
is] so draconian, there are no safeguards for civilian population [so] there is a strong
case for looking at it and to hold security forces accountable to the standards of human
rights ... [Today the Act] does not allow them to be accountable to human rights
commissions," Mr Abdullah added.
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