Of promises made

Mr. Advani's rejection of the `autonomy resolution' also means a rejection of the promises made by New Delhi in recent years, says HARISH KHARE.

QUIETLY, AND perhaps unthinkingly, Mr. L. K. Advani, told the Rajya Sabha last Wednesday that the Government was not receptive to the idea of autonomy, as demanded by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly; but, in a fit of generosity, he did suggest that the Centre would be willing to consider giving the State some ``special powers'', the kind of powers which would not be granted to other States.

It was a routine performance by a Union Home Minister. The whole thing was over in about ten minutes. And the thrust of the his response was entirely consistent with the public reputation of Mr. Advani as someone who takes an unsentimental view of the Kashmir problem. But coming within days of the Agra summit, the formulation could, at best, be described as insensitive.

However, the very idea of possible concession of ``special powers'' carries in it an acknowledgement that somehow Jammu and Kashmir's search for more elbow room for itself is different than the one periodically demanded in various other parts of the country. Mr. Advani's rejection of the ``autonomy resolution'', which seeks to recover the areas of independent functioning lost since 1953, also means a rejection of the promises made by New Delhi in recent years.

First, and most famous, promise was held out by the then Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, in 1996 when he told the people of Jammu and Kashmir that ``short of azadi, sky is the limit''. It was this promise to re-negotiate the compact that persuaded a large number of people in Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the 1996 elections. That participation in the rules of power, as described by New Delhi, came at the end of a five-year-long bloody and unsuccessful experiment in snatching autonomy and independence at gunpoint. The people of Jammu and Kashmir thought that the Centre was making a promise of an open mind on renegotiating the New Delhi- Sringar relationship to the satisfaction of both.

It is different matter that once elected on the plank of recovering for Kashmir its honour and space, Dr. Farooq Abdullah completely forgot his promise to his own people; instead, he thought it was his duty and obligation to assure the powers-that- be in New Delhi that he remained ``loyal''; in return, a gratified Centre turned a blind eye to his escapades and non- governance. The two United Front Governments and later the BJP- led regime in New Delhi were ensnared by the guiles and charms of this ``loyal'' Indian.

Dr. Abdullah remembered his ``autonomy'' plank only when the Vajpayee Government began exploring the possibility of a dialogue with the ``secessionist'' camp. And instead of insisting on talking within the parameters of the Constitution of India, the Prime Minister made the famous promise of conducting this dialogue within the parameters of ``insaniyat'' (human values). Here, again, was a promise that New Delhi was willing to consider any arrangement that would satisfy the Kashmiri quest for a space of its own. It was an invitation to all pro-azadi elements within the Kashmir Valley to put their faith in the power of dialogue - and, in New Delhi's word - rather than in the efficacy of the gun, even if supplied by the jehadi from across the border.

And to the extent that quest remains unquenched, the gun remains an option. In this context, Mr. Advani's rejection of the ``autonomy resolution'' is bound to be noted in the Kashmir Valley, and it could be read as a rejection of the Vajpayee promise of ``insaniyat''.

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