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BJP says no, Left for debate

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 23. Political parties have diametrically opposite views on "autonomy" for Jammu and Kashmir, an issue that was opened again today by its Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, and the newly-anointed president of the National Conference and Minister of State for External Affairs, Omar Abdullah, at their party convention in Srinagar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected any demand for autonomy, taking its cue from the Vajpayee Government which rejected it outright when the State Assembly adopted a resolution to give voice to this demand two years ago. The BJP stand was and continues to be that there was no question of going back to the State's pre-1953 status. The party spokesperson, Sunil Shastri, pointed out that the State enjoyed a special status and that several times in the past "special packages" had been announced for it.

The Left parties maintained that the question of autonomy should have been considered and that it was a political blunder not to do so. They pointed out that even in 2000 — when the Assembly passed the resolution — the Left had articulated its disagreement with the Vajpayee Government's decision rejecting it. "The Left parties had condemned the move and said that the autonomy resolution should have been discussed instead of being rejected outright," the CPI national secretary, D. Raja, said.

The Congress has taken note of the noises from Srinagar and its spokesperson, Anand Sharma, said it would give its reaction after the party's Kashmir Committee meet tomorrow to discuss the issue. The Congress has for long favoured autonomy within the package of the Sheikh Abdullah-Indira Gandhi pact; also the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, had talked about full autonomy, "short of azadi".

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