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| Congress open for dialogue, including Autonomy: Soz | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 31: The Pradesh Congress Committee president and Union Minister Saifuddin Soz has said he would not accept any tailor-made solutions for the Kashmir issue and favoured a "vigourous dialogue" with the people, including on the topic of autonomy.
"I will not accept any tailor-made solution that will compound the issues, that will make the issues complicated for the people of Jammu and Kashmir state," he said at a panel discussion on 'Democracy and Development Envisioning a Future for Kashmir' here.
Strongly opposing any move to trifurcate the state, he said the people had given their verdict in the recent assembly elections that they wanted to stay together.
"Autonomy or any other expression uttered by the people, proposed by the people, must be tested by the people," he said, adding that when he referred to autonomy he had the Constitution in mind.
"Some of the dimensions of autonomy are already enshrined in the Constitution of India," Soz said.
"There is a shade of opinion. They want to settle Kashmir issue. I have no difficulty. If you want that then you have to be prepared for two things -- let us decide in the people's interest ... and keep the integrity of the state," he said.
"Within those parameters you will come to a wonderful conclusion and you will say we have settled the issue," Soz said.
He said the post-election scenario provided a huge opportunity to take the development initiatives forward and he was confident that new Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would deliver on the promises he had made.
Soz, who is also the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, said a great opportunity for providing good governance awaited the new government in the state.
The Union Minister said that the chief minister should not tolerate corrupt practices and that he believed in Abdullah's assertions on tackling the menace.
Soz also wanted the National Conference-Congress coalition government to deal with "hackneyed laws" which hamper development process.
Participating in the panel discussion, political scientist Amitabh Mattoo favoured engaging some moderate elements in Pakistan to find a solution to the Kashmir issue.
The peaceful conduct of elections has marginalised the separatist Hurriyat Conference, he said.
Mohammad Aslam, Director of School of Continuing Education, IGNOU favoured revival of the Panchayati Raj institutions in Jammu and Kashmir as well as re-orienting the outdated syllabus in the state.
He also wanted security forces to undergo training in Human Rights before being posted in the state.
Journalist Vijay Saqi wanted a structured blueprint and the right atmosphere for development in the state.
Former ICSSR Secretary Susheela Bhan wanted the state government to formulate policies for all the regions of Jammu and Kashmir and dispel perceptions that the state programmes were Kashmir-centric and to the disadvantage of other regions.
Former Foreign Secretary Shashank also favoured empowerment of local bodies enabling them to act as managers and auditors of government programmes.
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