Sunday, Jul 21, 2002
Sunday, Jul 21, 2002 |
| Front Page | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Front Page
By Harish Khare
Even though the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K.Advani, had made the announcement of Mr. Jaitely's new responsibility in the Lok Sabha on July 16, till this day there has been no official "notification'' of Mr. Jaitely's mission. Perhaps, the delay has to do with the fact that while Mr. Advani talked of greater "devolution of powers,'' the Farooq Abdullah Government has been pressing for "autonomy.'' Meanwhile, the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, has contributed to the confusion by prescribing a much-reduced role for Mr. Jaitely. In a newspaper interview this morning, Mr. Naidu was quoted as citing the authority of (the non-existing) "notification,'' according to which Mr. Jaitley's role "will be limited to speaking to the Jammu and Kashmir Government on behalf of the Centre.'' Moreover, according the BJP president, Mr. Jaitely (who is also a general secretary of the party) would have to conform to the BJP stand, which rejects the "autonomy'' demand. To add further to the confusion was the decision of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, to attend a negotiation session with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which has now come out openly in support of its long-held demand for a trifurcation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir along communal lines. Mr. Advani's presence at this BJP-RSS negotiation has sent out conflicting signals, in and out of the Kashmir Valley.
Role for Jethmalani
At the same time, reports from Srinagar indicate that the Centre may constitute yet another panel, probably to be headed by another former Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani, to talk to the non-National Conference political parties and groups. Mr. Jethmalani was recently in Srinagar (presumably with the Prime Minister's blessings) to "talk'' to individuals and groups. On the other hand, the officials are perplexed over the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah's announcement that he would not be stepping down as Chief Minister before the Assembly polls. This is being seen as a kind of "reneging on an understanding" between New Delhi and Srinagar. There appears to be a suggestion of a quid pro quo: the Chief Minister would step down, making possible a spell of Governor's rule in exchange for an "autonomy negotiator,'' giving the National Conference a kind of a "victory''. A spot of the Governor's rule was considered a pre-requisite for a "free and fair poll,'' as promised repeatedly by the Prime Minister. A section of the officials dealing with Kashmir, however, suspects that the National Conference leadership was once again on the "verge of double-crossing the Centre." The State Government is increasingly suspected of doing everything possible to provoke the separatist camp into boycotting the election, thereby paving the way for the return on the National Conference. The high-handed use, for example, of the police personnel against a handful of the Hurriyat demonstrators today (who wanted to protest the Qasim Nagar/Rajiv Nagar massacre in Jammu) is a case in point. Instantly, Pakistan Television flashed images of a large police posse pitted against a few hapless protesters. Or, take the release, and re-arrest of Yasin Malik under the Public Safety Act. There is suspicion that the action against Mr. Malik is designed to make it difficult for the moderate voices within the Hurriyat to spurn Pakistan's calculations.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
