Autonomy demand will not end, says Abdullah

Abdullah repeatedly stressed that he wanted a national debate and a consensus on the autonomy issue and said he respected the Constitution of India and was for a solution within the constitutional framework.

Reacting angrily to a question about reports that he had raked up the demand for autonomy to come in the way of talks between the Centre and Hurriyat leaders, he said it was a malicious rumour8217;.

8220;Who the hell am I to stop them the Centre. Am I God?8221; he asked.

At the same time, he made a scathing attack on Hurriyat, charging that it was 8220;merely what Pakistan has made and that they were being financed and supplied arms by Pakistan.8221;

8220;You think Hurriyat is a great panacea to India. Part of Hurriyat wants to give Kashmir to Pakistan. Part of them wants independence from India. Go ahead and give them,8221; he said sarcastically. 8220;They the Centre must talk to them Hurriyat8221; so that the people of India would 8220;realise what Hurriyat is all about,8221; Abdullah said.

Asked if National Conference would continue to be part of NDA as its principal component, BJP, was strongly opposed to autonomy, he shot back, 8220;What is wrong in being in NDA8221;?

Even Akali Dal leader Prakash Singh Badal also speaks for the same thing as also Assam Chief Minister Prafaulla Kumar Mahanta, he said.

To a question, he said he did not think of any time frame for the Centre to evolve a national consensus on the autonomy issue. 8220;We have passed a resolution and are hopeful that the Centre will examine it and discuss not only with us but also with others and evolve a consensus.8221;

Abdullah said the Centre had to discuss the issue 8220;with everybody. They have to discuss with Hurriyat, all parties in states and national and regional parties.8221;

On the strong opposition by RSS to the autonomy concept, Abdullah said 8220;RSS does not run the country8221; and charged that RSS had always been against Muslims of India.

RSS, he said, had been one of advocates of abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution which confers special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

On Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray branding his views on autonomy as traitorous8217;, Abdullah said 8220;one day he calls me a patriot. Another day he calls me a traitor. Let him make up his mind on what I am.8221;

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee has asserted that Congress would never accept8217; the Jammu and Kashmir autonomy resolution passed by the state assembly. He was addressing an ongoing camp organised by the All India Congress Seva Dal at Doddaballapur, near Bangalorenear.

8220;There is no doubt that states have to be strengthened and their legitimate demands need to be accepted but there is a Lakshman Rekha which nobody should cross. States have to be strengthened, but not at the cost of the Centre,8221; he said.

Asked by reporters later on the apprehensions8217; of the Congress on the resolution, he said 8220;it is not the question of apprehension, it is a question of practicability. How can a state say that it wants go back by 50 years?8221;

In a related development, Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Dwarka Shardapitham Shri Swaroopanand Saraswati has urged the Union Government to deal sternly with forces demanding autonomy.

The Shankaracharya said the demand for autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir will weaken the nation and cause a series of problems for the country besides encouraging similar demands from other border states.

The religious head, in a statement in Rajkot, said the country would become a front-runner among nations if it continued to progress without any hurdles and alleged that certain countries were trying to create obstacles and rifts among the various communities living here peacefully as they could not tolerate India8217;s growth.

The Shankaracharya warned against the hidden enemies8217; which were dangerous and called upon the people to collectively protect the integrity of the country.