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Abdullah rejects Centre's suggestion for fresh proposals

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah Thursday rejected the Centre's suggestion to give a fresh set of recommendations on autonomy.

He said the ruling National Democratic Alliance should instead set up a ministerial team to discuss the issue, to avoid further alienation of Kashmiris.

"I have not received anything formal request from the Centre on submitting fresh proposals for autonomy. Moreover, the state government will never do it," Abdullah said before flying to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, on a "mission" to evolve national consensus on autonomy for the state.

He said recommendations of the autonomy resolution were the result of four years of hard work by the State Autonomy Committee. "I don't know why the Centre wants to push us back when we want to look forward."

"We have formed a GoM and we want the same from the Centre... let this forum discuss and make necessary amendments to our report after convincing us about them," he said.

Union Home Minister L K Advani had said on Wednesday that the Centre had sought fresh proposals from the J&K government on the autonomy issue.

Abdullah said granting greater autonomy would help to bring "misguided youths" back into the national mainstream. "These youths have understood that neither will the state be annexed to Pakistan nor will it become independent... and I have information that they will be content with the resolution.

"We are not asking for something extraordinary. We are only asking for restoring the dignity of the state, which had been eroded since 1953."

On whether the autonomy resolution "was part of an effort by the state government" to stall dialogue between the Centre and Hurriyat Conference, Abdullah said, "Why should I stall it when I expressed my desire to talk to them in 1996 after taking the oath."

He denied that he had locked horns with the bureaucracy at the Centre on the issue of talks between the Hurriyat and Centre. "Such statements are baseless," the chief minister said.

About talks with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and other political leaders on the issue, he said, "We only asked for talks on June 26, when the state assembly passed the resolution... after initial hiccups the process has begun."

He said the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere with all leaders, and admitted, "After a massive campaign by the state government, some political leaders have accepted that they were not aware of the entire report."

He added that if the need arose, he will convene an all-party meeting in Srinagar, where all political leaders will present their case.

"There is a need for all leaders to put their heads together and sort out this issue," Abdullah said.

PTI

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