Ritu Sharma
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited report of the Jammu and Kashmir interlocutors, prepared over 12 months and submitted on Wednesday to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, has given a slew of suggestions, including ‘autonomy’ and ‘gradual withdrawal of security forces from the Valley’, as the way forward towards peace. The report, however, did not comment on the contentious issue of ‘azadi’.
According to sources, the issue of ‘azadi’ and the demand for self-determination by the people of the Valley, has not been mentioned in the report. The panel has suggested greater internal autonomy for all the three regions of the State — the Valley, Jammu and Ladakh — as the only viable solution to the Kashmir imbroglio.
The trio also sought a review of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act that gives security forces sweeping powers to shoot, search and arrest, while fighting insurgency.
The report ruled out the State’s return to the pre-1952 status. As per the Delhi Agreement, 1952, the State was granted greater autonomy within the Constitution of India. Later, a State Autonomy Committee report by a panel headed by Housing Minister Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah had recommended that the State be restored to its pre-1952 status.
Also touching upon rights violations in the State, the interlocutors, senior journalist Dileep Padgonkar, academician Dr Radha Kumar and Information Commissioner M M Ansari, called for visible reduction of the armed forces in the State.
Courtesy : The New Indian Express
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