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PMO trying to soothe Sangh hawks on Kashmir

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The prime minister's office is working overtime to bring the hawks within the Sangh Parivar round to its point of view on the crucial issue of devolution of powers to Jammu and Kashmir.

On Monday, state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah accepted Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's invitation to visit New Delhi for talks on this matter.

"In our opinion, a piquant situation has been overcome with the prime minister's visit to Srinagar. His condolences conveyed personally to the chief minister on his mother Begum Akbar Jehan's demise have had the desired result. Dr Abdullah is coming for discussions and J&K is likely to witness more devolution of powers, which might suit everybody concerned," a senior official of the PMO told rediff.com

He cautioned against reaching "hasty conclusions", but added that Dr Abdullah's willingness to come to New Delhi was itself "a positive move".

Bharatiya Janata Party politicians and other members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance are heaving a sigh of relief that Vajpayee and two senior Cabinet colleagues Lal Kishenchand Advani and George Fernandes's decision to fly to Srinagar to be with Abdullah in his hour of grief has struck the right chord in the National Conference, whose working committee was discussing whether to quit the NDA.

The mood of the majority in the Conference's decision-making body was reportedly angry, with many telling Chief Minister Abdullah that the rejection of the assembly's resolution demanding autonomy was an insult and the party must exit to restore 'Kashmiri pride'.

But the fact that Vajpayee, Home Minister Advani and Defence Minister Fernandes all flew to Srinagar to express their condolences underscored the Centre's anxiety to keep the party in the NDA fold.

The prime minister emphasised to reporters in Srinagar that while the assembly's resolution had "not been accepted by the Union Cabinet, it had not been rejected outright".

Vajpayee's statement was in sharp contrast to the earlier assertion by Advani that the resolution had been "unanimously rejected". Apparently, the prime minister and his senior Cabinet colleagues perceive, despite their differences, that it is of paramount importance that the Conference should stay with the NDA.

It is understood that the prime minister has appealed to all constituents of the NDA, especially members of Parliament affiliated to the Sangh Parivar, that the country cannot afford a confrontation on Kashmir at this juncture and needs to find an amicable solution expeditiously to defeat the designs of Pakistan and some anti-national entities.

That is why even the hawks in the BJP have toned down their earlier statements. While they had earlier declared that there was no question of reverting to the pre-1953 status for Jammu & Kashmir, they are now saying they do not want to see the National Conference out of the Vajpayee government. "We have our agreements and disagreements. But when it is a question of India's unity and integrity, we all unite in ironing out the differences. There is nothing wrong in that," said BJP vice-president K Jana Krishnamurthy.

The opposition parties, however, appear unforgiving of the government. Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi said that while his party does not favour granting the National Conference's demands, "the BJP-led government has aggravated the issue by its incompetent handling". The Communist Party of India, Marxist, has adopted a similar line.

Against this backdrop, Begum Akbar Jehan's demise has given the Centre a breather and an opportunity to pacify the Conference. Kashmiri Law Minister P L Handoo has indicated that while the majority of his party colleagues are upset at the rejection of their resolution, Vajpayee might have provided a healing touch by inviting Abdullah for talks and underscoring that the demand had not been rejected outright.

The ball is now in Vajpayee court. July15, when the National Conference resumes its working committee meeting, will reveal whether his efforts have been worthwhile.

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