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Kashmir : Coalition rift widens

	March 05, 2007

To press its demand for gradual reduction of forces in the Kashmir valley, Ministers belonging to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) boycotted a meeting of the state cabinet called by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to discuss administrative issues. This is said to be the first time in the coalition government’s four and a half years in office that Ministers of a major alliance partner were absent from a cabinet meeting. The PDP reportedly decided to boycott the Cabinet meeting if the issues pushed by it were not included in the agenda.



Sources said PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to discuss the issue. She had met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.



“I urged the Chief Minister to include our issues in the agenda, but he did not agree. I had written for a special meeting on reduction of troops and withdrawal of Armed Fores Special Powers Act, but received no response,” said Agriculture Minister and PDP leader Abdul Aziz Zargar.



Zargar, however, refused to comment whether the party will withdrew support to the Azad Government. But he said they were waiting for a message from Mehbooba.



The Congress, meanwhile, described the PDP’s decision as “unfortunate.” “I’ve heard about this....if it is true, this is very unfortunate,” said senior Congress leader and Health Minister Mangat Ram Sharma just before the Cabinet meeting. He said the Congress was not in favour of demilitarisation before the situation in the state became conducive for such a move.





NC for fresh elections



Reacting to the PDP’s boycott of a cabinet meeting, the National Conference said that the time has come to seek the mandate of the people. Addressing a gathering of party workers in Jammu on March 1, party president Omar Abdullah dared the PDP leaders to pull out of the Congress-led coalition if they were feeling insecure after the Congress debacle in Punjab and Uttarakhand.



Urging members not to fall prey to PDP rhetoric on the security scenario in the state, the NC chief said, when Mufti Mohd. Sayeed was the chairman of the unified command during his tenure as Chief Minister, he never demanded troop withdrawal or repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. During his regime, Governor’s address never projected this demand of the coalition government. And now, after coming out of office, they are trying to befool Kashmir people by raising hollow slogans. “I want to ask them, why did they keep their mouth shut when they were in power, were they afraid of losing their chair,” he said. “PDP is enacting a drama to befool the electorate ahead of Assembly polls, raising question marks over their intent.”



Later Farooq Abdullah in his address, advised party workers to get ready for the polls ahead. He said the Congress committed a blunder by siding with PDP and formed a coalition in 2002 and now I am sure, PDP will dump them for its own vested interests.





India, Pakistan to reduce troops : Mirwaiz



The Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has claimed that India and Pakistan have agreed on reduction of troops in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. In his Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid, in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz said this is expected to be the first step towards resolution of the Kashmir issue.



Farooq said during its recent meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri in Delhi, the Hurriyat delegation was told that the two countries were working out modalities of troops’ withdrawal from either side of the Line of Control.



The Mirwaiz said New Delhi and Islamabad had also agreed that there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue and progress towards a lasting settlement would have to be made in a phased manner.



The withdrawal of troops and revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act make a perfect beginning to the phased resolution of the Kashmir issue, he said.



“We want to assure both India and Pakistan that the Hurriyat will extend its full support and cooperation in pushing forward the peace process.”





UJC about-turn on Musharraf’s four-point plan



The United Jehad Council, a conglomerate of 14 militant outfits based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has given a guarded welcome to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula on self-rule as a first step towards resolving the Kashmir issue. The UJC had earlier been critical of Gen. Musharraf’s formula. UJC chairman Syed Salahuddin now says that the Pakistan President’s proposal could be the beginning of a viable solution of the Kashmir issue. However, he added that an ultimate and lasting solution was possible only through exercise of the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir adding that the separatists were in favour of meaningful tripartite talks.



Mirwaiz Farooq’s Awami Action Committee has welcomed the shift in the stand of hardliners. However, a UJC constituent, Jamait-ul Mujaheedin, said that Musharraf’s four-point proposal was not acceptable to it. The hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has also come out against the change in the stance of the UJC.



The Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation generally seen to be favoured by Islamabad’s intelligence agencies, has also opposed Gen. Musharraf’s proposals on resolving the Kashmir issue. Observers say that Lashkar has been posting on its website articles critical of the Pakistan President’s stand and also of recent statements of Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.