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The ball is in Centre's court: Farooq

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah today said it was now up to the Centre and Parliament to decide whether the Jammu and Kashmir assembly's demand for autonomy was justified.

"The ball is in the Centre's court. It is up to them to decide. After all, it was none other than Parliament which had promised autonomy to J&K. It was not Farooq Abdullah who promised it. It was, in fact, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who piloted the autonomy bill for the state in Parliament decades ago."

Dr Abdullah was in city to participate in the inauguration of Jammu and Kashmir Bank's Bangalore branch. Karnataka Chief Minster S M Krishna presided over the ceremony.

Ruling out balkanisation of the country if autonomy was granted to J&K, Dr Abdullah said the accession of Kashmir to India was final and irrevocable.

"We have only passed a resolution, not a bill, which would amount to enacting a law. We do not want to force things on anybody. Let there be a debate across the political spectrum, and a consensus emerge across the country," he said.

Referring to the need for greater federalism in the country, Dr Abdullah said the very composition of the present Union government reflected the spirit of India, represented as it is by several regional political parties.

"Why will granting autonomy to us lead to balkanisation of the country. Has it happened in the US, Australia or Canada. Federal structure is a global phenomenon."

Asked what would autonomy bring to its people, and whether normalcy would return to the state, Dr Abdullah said: "More than anything else, it will bring them what they have lost - the Kashmiri pride. It is a question of their self-respect. Autonomy, and freedom that comes with it, would go a long-way in soothing the hurt feelings of the people, who have been exposed to a great deal of hardship during the last 50 years," the National Conference chief said.

Asked what if the Centre and Parliament rejected the demand, Dr Abdullah said: "How can they reject a just demand of the people of a state? Parliament is expected to meet the legitimate aspirations of the people."

Dr Abdullah said autonomy would restore the people's confidence and would help in checking the menace of cross-border terrorism.

For recent reports on the autonomy issue.

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