Rejection of autonomy proposal will hit NC most

It has also virtually destroyed the ruling party8217;s argument that there is room in democratic India to accommodate the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. As a result, the National Conference may now be relegated to political irrelevance unless it too adopts a harder pro-Kashmiri stance.

8220;It has scuttled all chances of dialogue. Forget autonomy for Kashmir, the way this proposal was dismissed, nobody will dare to even talk of coming to the negotiating table,8221; said Prof Manzoor Fazili, an expert on state politics. 8220;If autonomy is not possible, how will they Centre even think of anything else?8221; In fact, the national consensus emerging since the autonomy proposal is that leaders across India8217;s political spectrum want to make the 1975-accord between late Sheikh Abdullah and the then prime minister Indira Gandhi a final point of reference in any negotiation on Centre-state relations.

Within the separatist camp, the Centre8217;s unceremonious rejection of a solution well within the Constitutional framework has strengthened the hard-liners who wanted tripartite talks, and weakened the moderates who favoured initiation of a two-way dialogue with the Centre. Now that the moderates have been undercut, the hard-liners can now more successfully press for compulsory involvement of Pakistan so that they too are not humiliated at the negotiating-table.

8220;If the Centre is not tolerant enough to even discuss a resolution which is technically nothing but a mere suggestion, what will they talk about with us?8221; a senior Hurriyat leader said. 8220;We are left with no option other than to stick to tripartite dialogue and nothing else. There is no question of direct negotiations with Delhi.8221;

He said the feeling across separatist camps was that the real face of Delhi has once again been exposed. 8220;Everyone says they knew Delhi would never budge from its known stand that Kashmir was an atoot ang integral part of India. In fact, they were never sincere and the bogey of dialogue was always just to buy time and relieve the international pressure,8221; the Hurriyat leader added.

Taking a dig at the moderates both inside and outside the separatist movement, Hurriyat chief and leader of the right-wing Jamat-e-Islami Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that the rejection is an eye-opener for those who still had any doubts left. 8220;This has exposed the real fascist face of India,8221; he said, adding that even if autonomy had been granted to Farooq Abdullah, the movement for the right of self-determination would have continued unhindered. The rejection, however, has served the separatist movement in one way, he said: 8220;Nobody is going to believe the Centre8217;s pretence of seriousness to resolve the dispute.8221;

Senior Hurriyat executive leader Abdul Gani Lone and his party, the People8217;s Conference, which has been a champion of the cause of restoration of autonomy within the ambit of the Constitution until the emergence of militancy, when he shifted his stand to complete freedom.

8220;We are not agitated because autonomy is a non-issue. I and my party had fought for years for the restoration of Kashmir8217;s autonomy but finally realised that complete freedom from India was the only solution to this problem,?8221; he said. 8220;And we are being proven correct. They Centre want to grab Kashmir and will not accept anything less.8221;

Lone, however, blames Farooq Abdullah for this 8220;humiliating rejection of his resolution8221; that had the approval of the Legislative Assembly. 8220;He Abdullah could have done it himself through amendments in his own Constitution first. In fact, he invited rejection of the resolution by sending it to the Centre,8221; Lone commented. 8220;Autonomy, for all practical purposes, is a state subject.8221;

The Centre8217;s rejection has also sent the National Conference into a tizzy. As the only major pro-India political group with a base in Kashmir, it has been humiliated by the Centre8217;s panic-driven reaction and the provocative anti-national label heaped on it by the leadership of most national parties.

8220;Even the secular leadership of the country has a different yard-stick when it comes to Kashmir. They should have not closed this door as well,8221; said state Agriculture Minister Ali Mohammed Sagar. 8220;The history of relations between Kashmir and Delhi for the past 50 years is full of conspiracies. This rejection has continued that trend.8221;

After this, analysts believe, the NC can no longer afford to carry on its non-confrontational posture with New Delhi. It will have to take a bolder stand or face the prospect of political oblivion. 8220;If we accept defeat this time, how will we face our people?8221; a senior NC leader said. 8220;We had been telling them that azaadi was not possible but autonomy was. How will we go to them again and tell them even autonomy was a distant dream?8221;