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| Interlocuters claim may be an eye-opener for separatists | | | If the ideas expressed by the three interlocutors are any guide majority of people in the troubled Jammu and Kashmir are for peace and regional unity. They are for devolution of political and financial powers to the three regions and the Panchayati Raj be further strengthened by incorporating 73rd and 74th amendments in the state Act. Again if the picture painted by Dilip Padgaonkar,who heads the team of interlocutors, is any guide a small section of people are for Azadi.Though the interlocutors could meet only one senior separatist leader,Molvi A|bbas Ansari,at his residence they plan to include his views in their interim report to the Government. The interlocutors seem to have been peeved over the decision of the separatists against interacting with the team from the centre and this is evident from Padgaonkar's statement that neither India nor people in Jammu and Kashmir can be held hostages due to the rigid stand of the separatists. People cannot wait indefinitely for separatists to come forward for talks at the expense of the rest of the population of Jammu and Kashmir who are eagerly looking forward for resolution of all the issues.
It is laudable on the part of the interlocutors that they have decided to submit their interim report to the Government of India without securing viewpoints of the separatists and to make up for this shortcoming they have decided to include the views expressed by Molvi Abbas Ansari of Hurriyat Conference whom the interlocutors had met him at his residence for which he has been suspended from the APHC.“We cannot allow rest of the population to live in status quo if the separatist camp does not want to come forward for talks to resolve the imbroglio,” Padgaonkar has stated. His chagrin is understandable when he says “We wrote formal letters to them, but they did not respond. We had told them that if they do not want to meet they can send a formal document giving a broad outline of their view point but they remained silent,” he has said. Well people of the state, specially those belonging to the region of Jammu, will feel grateful to the team if they recommend setting up fresh delimitation commission and the Government accepts the recommendations.Padgaonkar has stated that a large number of people, who interacted with the team members,favoured fresh delimitation of the Assembly constituencies so that the number of the segments was increased on the basis of size of the area and the population.
In fact moratorium on setting up fresh delimitation commission has been one of the causes responsible for regional discrimination.It is in this context that people have secured intervention by the interlocutors so that a mechanism was evolved for suitable devolution of political and financial powers to three regions and subregions. The team has set at rest reports that the panel was recommending something close to autonomy and self-rule demanded by the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, Padgaonkar said that these are mere speculative stories. “We have not recommended any such thing, these are just speculative stories; our report would be primary layout about different contours of aspirations in Jammu and Kashmir.”In support of his contention that majority of people are not for Azadi Padgaonkar referred to the team's visit to Doda area where. out of the 36 delegations who met them only three groups were for ‘Azadi’ as solution of the issue. He has said that bulk of the delegations held the view that a political settlement in Jammu and Kashmir must ensure the unity and territorial integrity of the state with the Indian Union.This should be an eye-opener for the separatists who claim that majority of people were either for Kashmir's incorporation with Pakistan or for Azadi. People have reiterated their faith in democracy, inclusive development and the strictest respect for religious, ethnic and cultural pluralism.“People want an effective, constitutionally guaranteed devolution of political, financial and administrative powers to all the three regions of the state and a further devolution at the district, block and panchayat levels”, Padgaonkar has claimed.If the report is based on the genuine aspirations of people there may not be any need for experimenting with either greater autonomy or self-rule.
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