J&K fit case for Central team: Mufti

He also urged the Vajpayee Government to open a dialogue with the militants. “Talks have been held with secessionist leaders like Laldenga and Phizo in the past and they have been brought around. Even Sheikh Abdullah was once a secessionist leader. There is nothing wrong in talking to secessionist groups,” the Congress leader asserted.

He suggested that Prime Minister Vajpayee urgently convene an all-party meeting to evolve a strategy to fight militancy in the state and find a political solution to the increasing alienation of thepeople.

Lashing out at J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Mufti said the National Conference had let down the people of Kashmir who were expecting an end to militancy with the restoration of the democratic process in the state.

“The NC has totally failed to meet the political challenge before it. The situation is so bad now that I am afraid we are going back to the 1989-90 period. History is repeating itself,” he lamented.

Mocking the “pro-active” policy announced by Home Minister L K Advani, Mufti pointed out that it was the careful handling by security forces over the past eight years that had curbed militancy in the Valley and forced Pakistan to resort to hiring foreign mercenaries. Now these mercenaries have spread into Jammu because they no longer have the support of the people of Kashmir, he said.

He was all praise for the Gujral doctrine which he felt had put Pakistan on the defensive over the Kashmir issue. “Now it has been internationalised, giving hope to militants in the state,’ hesaid.

He repeatedly stressed the need for a political solution, saying that the gun would not resolve anything. “Security forces must be reduced in the state now that democracy has been restored. Any solution must be found through the political process,” he said. He added, however, that he did not favour the imposition of President’s Rule as this would not change the basic situation.

Meanwhile in Nagpur, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan has questioned the Centre’s propriety of sending teams to some states and termed it as an “exercise aimed at dismissing the respective governments”. “There is no Constitutional provision even for sending Central teams to states”, he told a press conference here today.

“The BJP-led Government’s reluctance to apply Article 356 in throwing out the elected State government is not out of moral or political consideration but due to apprehension of not getting Parliament’s nod. The government does not have majority in Rajya Sabha and even in the Lok Sabha AndhraPradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam and Akali Dal might not support the application of Article 356,” he said.

To a question on Union Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani’s statement taking strong exception to West Bengal government’s objection on sending a Central team, the CPI leader quipped “he (Jethmalani) is a good lawyer who can argue for both sides”. Bardhan, who is here to address a party workers’ convention, also expressed his displeasure over the performance of the BJP-led government.