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| Autonomy: Bhalla, Mohi-ud-Din to withdraw signatures? | | A serious issue | | Rustam
jammu, Aug 10: It is now almost clear that the Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) on Justice Sagheer Ahmad's report on Centre-State relations has prepared an interim report which suggests that the State be granted autonomy. The secretary of the working group, instead of presenting the report to the Prime Minister, had presented it to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on December 23, 2009. The Prime Minister had constituted five working groups, including the working group on Centre-State relations. The CSC comprising 4 NC Ministers and 4 Congress Ministers was set up by the NC-led coalition Government vide Government Order No. 1148-GAD of 2010 dated: 11.10.2010 read with Government Order No. 1391-GAD of 2010 dated 03.12.2010 for examining the recommendations made in the report of working group-V and finalization of the recommendations/report. The National Conference Ministers included Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather; Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar; Industries Minister SS Salathia; and CAPD Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon. Rather was also nominated as convener of the CSC. The Congress Ministers included Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, PHE Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla and Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma. The CSC met six times between January 2010 and March 2012. It met on January 28, 2011; June 1st, 2011; August 8, 2011; December 27, 2011; February 17, 2012; and March 27, 2012, but could not reach a consensus because there was difference of opinion between the NC and the Congress Ministers. The CSC got extension for the sixth time in the third week of May this year. Its term had expired on March 31, 2012.
As mentioned, the interim report reportedly provides for greater autonomy for Jammu & Kashmir. Till the other day, the impression was that while all the NC Ministers had endorsed all the recommendations which dealt with the State's special status and batted for greater autonomy, the Congress Ministers, on the other hand, had taken a line different from the line the NC Ministers had taken. It was a wrong impression. The real position, according to some latest reports, is that all the four NC Ministers and two out of four Congress Ministers - Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla and PHE Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din - have put their signatures on the interim report that recommends autonomy for the State.
In other words, neither Rigzin Jora nor Sham Lal has signed the report. It is quite understandable. Jora is a known critic of the autonomy formulation. He, like other Ladakhis, stands for Union Territory status for his region. Sham Lal Sharma in his heart of hearts is a votary of trifurcation. What he said at Bani two years ago is still too fresh to be forgotten. He had said: "Give Kashmir whatever the Kashmiris demand, but separate Jammu and Ladakh from Kashmir". He had made this statement in the presence of JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz and other senior Congress leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma.
Now some reports suggest that both Bhalla and Mohi-ud-Din have decided to withdraw their signatures or give a note of dissent. They have even approached, some reports suggest, convener of the CSC and asked him to arrange its meeting as early as possible so that they could withdraw their signatures or give their note of dissent. It is not important that Bhalla and Mohi-ud-Din have decided to take a complete U-turn. What is disturbing is the fact that they made common cause with the NC Ministers and signed the controversial interim report. Some people say that one of the Ministers signed the report out of "sheer ignorance" and the other signed it for reasons best known to him.
All this not only suggests that the Congress is a divided house, but also suggests that there is no coordination among the Congress members of the CSC. It also suggests that the Congress leadership is confused and ambivalent or helpless. That the two Ministers signed the report and the two did not should leave none in any doubt that there are elements in the Congress who can barter away everything in order to remain in the good books of the National Conference. It's a very serious issue and the people of Jammu Pradesh are keeping a close watch on what the Congress Ministers have been doing for more than three years now. They, barring a few, are least interested in the NC Ministers, for, they do not see in them their representatives. |
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