Unfortunate, says Farooq

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, JULY 4. Before the Union Cabinet rejected the June 26 resolution, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah met the Prime Minister this morning and heard from Mr. Vajpayee the impending decision, which he later termed ``unfortunate''.

Nonetheless, the Chief Minister was unwilling to burn his bridges with the ruling National Democratic Alliance, just as the Vajpayee establishment was keen on pointing out the moderation of language and tone of the Cabinet statement. It is pointed out that the statement uses the mildest of expressions; there is not even ``regret'' or condemnation of the National Conference for getting the unacceptable resolution passed. The hope at the highest level of the Central Government is that the NC leadership would notice the firmness of the decision as well as the note of restraint and reasonableness in the Cabinet response.

It is believed that the somewhat hurried response of the Cabinet was decided upon yesterday evening, when the four senior members - Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Advani, Mr. George Fernandes and Mr. Yashwant Sinha - fortuitously met in their capacities as members of the executive committee of the National Defence Fund. The political judgment was that there was a clearcut national consensus against the June 26 resolution, and that the Cabinet should swiftly move in, lest hawkish voices queer the pitch; the strident noises emanating from the BJP headquarters were most disquieting.

At this morning's Cabinet meeting, except Mr. Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena no one advocated a harsh response to Dr. Abdullah's ``pre-1953'' gambit. Though not a single Cabinet member spoke in favour ``autonomy'', there was a shared sentiment that Dr. Abdullah was the ``best bet'' and nothing should be done or said to alienate him. While the DMK and the Trinamool Congress were not in attendance, the Akali Dal as well as the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, felt that even if the ``pre- 1953''status was not agreeable Dr. Abdullah's political vulnerabilities should be kept in mind.

It is believed that Mr. Vajpayee struck out for a stance of reasonableness; the bottom line, as far as the ruling establishment is concerned, is that there was still room for negotiation between the Centre and the National Conference and other ``Kashmiri'' voices and that the quantum of autonomy was negotiable. The hope is that irrespective of the Cabinet decision, Dr. Abdullah would be able to engage the country in a lively debate about his party's preference for a certain constitutional arrangement.

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