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Kashmir : Hurriyat may become a political party

	January 14, 2008

The moderate faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference has decided to reshape itself as a grassroots level political party. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in Srinagar on Jan. 8 that the alliance with its 1993 constitution as the basis will emerge as a political party in due course. He said the party would pursue the goal of settling the Kashmir issue either on the basis of the UN resolutions on through tripartite process involving New Delhi, Islamabad and representatives of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Northern Areas.



“Status quo is unacceptable,” Mirwaiz said, “either in J&K or in Azad Kashmir (PoK).” Without withdrawing support to Parvez Musharraf’s four-point way-out on Kashmir, the Hurriyat will reject any solution to the Kashmir issue under Indian or Pakista¬ni Constitutions. However, he refused to link the restructuring process with J&K’s assembly elections in 2008.



“But if the need arises, the Hurriyat will not shy away from participating in a referendum to prove its representative charac¬ter,” he insisted.



The plan, the brainchild of Shabir Shah, envisages conver¬sion of the amalgam into a political party even if it needs re-drafting of the Hurriyat constitution.



Ever since its formation, the APHC has been boycotting both parliamentary and state polls.



Instead, it favours a referendum for “J & K independence” - as it existed on August 14, 1947 - in addition to the “options of accession to either India or Pakistan.”



Under Farooq’s leadership, the coalition has many a time entered into inconclusive dialogue both with New Delhi and Isla¬mabad separately on the Kashmir issue.



Farooq, likely to be the APHC president, is in touch with many other “like-minded” parties to expand the new base. There are, however, no fresh efforts at uniting with the hardline APHC faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.









Delimitation Commission to be set up



The two major coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress and the People’s Democratic Party, have agreed to the introduction of a Bill in the current session of the state Assem¬bly for setting up a delimitation commission. The commission, when it is set up, will reoraganise the territorial boundaries of Assembly constituencies ahead of elections in the state. On Thursday, Jan. 10, senior Congress Minister Mangat Ram Sharma gave an assurance on introduction of the Bill after consulting PDP leader Abdul Aziz Zargar.



During the earlier part of the week, Jammu-based political parties such as the Panthers Party, the BJP and State Morcha had been demanding setting up of the Delimitation Commission to fulfil the commitment in the coalition’s common minimum program¬me.



Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had set up a high power committee to resolve the issue, but it had failed to win a wider consensus.





Opposition boycotts Governor’s Address



On the opening day of the Budget Session of the state legis¬lature, the opposition National Conference and Panthers Party boycotted Governor S.K. Sinha’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses on Jan. 7. They were demanding the dismissal of the Congress-led coalition government for its various acts of omis¬sion and commission. The opposition alleged that jungle raj was prevailing in the state and there were gross human rights viola¬tions.





Congress ‘no’ to separate currency



The Congress has rejected the demand for a separate currency for Jammu and Kashmir. State Minister Tariq Hamid Karra had on Jan. 3 sought a separate currency for the state. Congress spo¬kesman Abhishek Singhvi described the demand as preposterous and unviable and contrary to all constitutional principles and norms. Karra belongs to the People’s Democratic Party.



The BJP has demanded the sacking of Karra for his proposal.





Several troops buried under snow



The Army is battling avalanches following heavy snowfall in Jammu & Kashmir. Relief operations at a couple of places were hampered due to adverse weather. The latest incident took place on Thursday when a jawan was buried under snow outside a post in Machal sector.



In another major incident, five soldiers and eight porters are feared to have died in an avalanche near a village on way to the Malanga Pass on Wednesday. Reports said two soldiers were rescued, but their condition was not known. A junior commanding officer and two soldiers along with the porters were buried under the snow when rescue operations were called off due to bad weath¬er.





Baglihar: Pak to move world court



Pakistan plans to move the International Court of Arbitra¬tion to challenge a World Bank neutral expert’s decision in favour of India in the dispute over the Baglihar hydropower project in Jammu and Kashmir.



Raymond Lafitte, the neutral expert, had in his final deter¬mination issued on February 12, 2007 subscribed to Pakistan’s three points of difference, but upheld India’s stand on the design of the dam’s spillway gates.



Pakistani authorities believe Lafitte’s ruling will allow India to regulate the waters of the Chenab and inflict “huge damage” to the irrigation system in Punjab province, which meets 85 per cent of the food requirements of the country.





Doda region faces century’s worst drought



The Jammu and Kashmir government has admitted that the Doda region, now comprising three districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, besides parts of Udhampur and Kathua districts, was facing the worst drought of the century, causing 80 to 90 per cent loss to the crops.



Making this admission in the Assembly, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who himself belongs to the region, said that the government would provide free ration for three months to people in the erstwhile district of Doda and some parts of Udhampur and Kathua districts where dry spell had caused 80 to 90 per cent damage to crops.



Intervening during the discussion on motion of thanks on the Governor’s address in the Assembly on Jan. 9, the Chief Minister said that perhaps for the first time in the century the erstwhile district of Doda suffered an acute dry spell this year even as other parts in Jammu and Kashmir had bumper crops.