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| Demand for federal autonomy resurfaces in Pak occupied Kashmir | | | Early Times Report
Jammu,January 7:-The echoes of the report of Justice Sagir Ahmed,who headed the Fifth Working Group constituted by Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh,recommending greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir,have started being heard in Pakistan occupied Kashmir where also the elected Government is in favour of limiting the role of Islamabad in the state.
According to reports received from across the border,Prime Minister of occupied Kashmir,Farooq Haider,has stated recently that there was need for limiting the powers of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council.As soon as he voiced his favour for either limiting the powers of the Council or abolishing it the state witnessed reopening of the debate for federal autonomy.In fact the role and powers of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council seem to be more than the Indan Parliament has in Jammu and Kashmir.Under Article 370 Indian laws cannot be extended directly to Jammu and Kashmir.These laws get applicable after the approval by the state legislature.Such a flexibility is not available in occupied Kashmir.
In occupied Kashmir the Council is a constitutional body established under section 24 of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir interim constitution Act of 1974.The Council has seven members from Pakistan Government,including the Prime Minister and the Minister for Kashmir Affairs,and the remaining five members are from the Pakistan National Assembly.Pakistan Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Council.Other members are Pakistan occupied Kashmir Prime Minister who is the vicchairman of the Council.Five other members from occupied Kashmir are members of the Assembly.
What seems to irritate politicians and people in the occupied Kashmir belt is the absolute powers that the Council enjoys.Article 35 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir constitution states that a bill passed by the Council becomes an act without the assent of the President of Pakistan provided it is authenticated by the Chairman,who is the Prime Minister of Pakistan.In addition to this another irritant to the politicians in occupied Kashmir is the constitutional provision under which the Council can legislate on some subjects without the direct involvement of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir Assembly,an elected body.It is here that the occupied Kashmir Prime Minister has expressed his desire to abolish the Council as there was no need for it since it was an extraconstitutional body.
Against this the two houses of the Legislature in Jammu and Kashmir are supreme as far as its powers for legislating on different subjects are concerned.Here there is no extra-constitutional body that tries to overshadw the role and importance of the state legislature.Even then the debate for autonomy has resurfaced after the fifth working Group submitted its report on the centre-state relations.
However,indications are that Islamabad may not allow the Occupied Kashmir Government to take in hand any step that could result in the abolition of the Council.It is through the Council that Islamabad has been able to exercise constitutional and political control over its occupied Kashmir state.
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