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| Autonomy means return to pre-1953 | | |
SANT KUMAR SHARMA
Jammu, Jan 11: The State Autonomy Committee (SAC) had placed its report on the table of two Houses of Jammu & Kashmir legislature on April 16, 1999. Subsequently, it was adopted by the state legislative assembly on June 26, 2000, and by the state legislative council the next day.
A special session of the bicameral legislature of the state was convened in June 2000 (between June 19 and 27) to discuss the issue of autonomy. Prior to that, the State Autonomy Committee (SAC) was constituted vide Government Order No 1164-GAD of 1996 dated 29-11-1996.
Originally, Dr Karan Singh was chairman of the committee but he resigned on July 31, 1997. Senior National Conference (NC) leader Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah was then made the chairman of the committee.
The other members of the committee were Abdul Ahad Vakil, Abdul Rahim Rather, Piyaray Lal Handoo, Bodh Raj Bali, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Kushok Thiksay and Teja Singh. All of them owed allegiance to the NC and there was thus no scope for dissent or holding different views in the committee.
The terms of reference of the committee were:
To examine and recommend measures for the restoration of autonomy to the state of Jammu & Kashmir consistent with the Instrument of Accession, the Constitution Application Order, 1950, and the Delhi Agreement of 1952.
To examine and recommend safeguards that be regarded necessary for incorporation in the Union/State Constitution to ensure that the Constitutional arrangement that is finally evolved is pursuance of the recommendations of this committee is inviolable.
To also examine and recommend measures to ensure a harmonious relationship for the future between the State and the Union.
The committee was given the task of seeking the ``full enforcement of the historic agreement concluded between the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Prime Minister (as he was then called) of the State, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, the two foremost architects of the State’s accession to the Union of India.’’
Implementing their mutual pledges in that Agreement was the ``bottom-line and the high ideal’’ before the committee members.
Whether deliberate or otherwise, there is no mention of Maharaja Hari Singh who signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947. Since Sher-i-Kashmir and Pandit Nehru were the ``foremost architects’’, according to SAC members, what role did the Maharaja play? Did he play no significant role in the accession of the State to India?
The constitutional relationship (prevailing in 2000 and even now) was defined by the SAC members as ``contrary to’’ and ``beyond the Delhi Agreement’’. As such, it is clear that from the very beginning, the SAC had been given the task of working for the restoration of pre-1953 status.
It was a weak National Front (NF) Central government led by H D Deve Gowda which maintained a stony silence on the issue of autonomy as NC harped on it. Later, in 2000, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took centre-stage at the Centre under Atal Behari Vajpayee, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government threw out the autonomy demand.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who was then the Union law minister, vetted the report on behalf of the Central government. Speaking here on Sunday, he termed the autonomy demand as dangerous and fissiparous, aimed at weakening India.
These were the very views he had expressed in 2000 and placed before the NDA leadership. Mr Jaitley had then pointed out that conceding the demand of pre-1953 status on J&K would weaken India and amount to promoting secessionism.
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