| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Farooq Abdullah calls for autonomy for J&K |
| 2002-06-23 |
| Even as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today pitched for autonomy for his state to help restore peace there, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rejected it. Asked whether autonomy was a long-term solution for Kashmir, the Prime Minister said "we are for the devolution of power." What's autonomy — even a limited autonomy — if not a devolution of power? While Abdullah's demand was made at a special session of National Conference in Srinagar where he handed over the charge of the party to his son Omar, Vajpayee's rejection was contained in an interview to Newsweek magazine. Earlier today, Farooq Abdullah had said the Centre would have to seriously consider granting autonomy as there would be no peace in the state "till you (Centre) give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh." Since the centralized state idea obviously hasn't been working, and since the Indos have been afraid to hold that plebiscite, a limited autotonomy seems a sensible move. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |