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Naqvi backtracks on remarks against Cong.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 20. The Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, tied himself up in knots today. First he charged the Congress, especially its president, Sonia Gandhi, with pursuing an "agenda of terrorism'' in Jammu and Kashmir and "talking to ISI agents.'' And then he said it would be "anti-national'' for political parties not to talk in "one voice'' on matters related to the State.

Were the National Conference, the RSS-backed Jammu State Morcha and the BJP talking in one voice? On the issue of trifurcation of the state was the BJP's "voice'' the same as that of the JSM with which it has a seat-sharing arrangement? Were the views of the Prime Minister and the NC leaders, such as Omar Abdullah identical on the issue of "talking'' to the Hurriyat leaders? Did the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, represent the ISI too when he participated in the summit level talks in Agra? Mr. Naqvi deftly avoided answering these questions and then corrected his earlier statement to say that he meant that on the issue of cross-border terrorism and on the issue of talking (or not talking) to "separatists'' all parties should speak in one voice.

He was also left fumbling for an appropriate response when one reporter said that the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, while rejecting the RSS-backed "trifurcation'' suggestion had said that that would be playing into Pakistan's hands. And any number of times the Prime Minister and his aides had talked about doors being open for talks with all Indians (including the Hurriyat leaders).

Then Mr. Naqvi posed six questions to the Congress suggesting that it had given away to Pakistan more than half of Jammu and Kashmir and now it wants to accept the "anti-national demands'' of separatists and terrorists.

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