New Kashmir govt has difficult task ahead<\/p>\n
By Clarence Fernandez<\/p>\n
SRINAGAR (Reuter): Kashmir's first elected state government in
\nnearly a decade has little time to celebrate as it moves to
\ntackle separatist sentiments and bring promised autonomy to the
\nregion, analysts said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The moderate National Conference party has made inroads into
\nHindu and Buddhist regions of the mainly Moslem state on a
\npromise to restore to the Himalayan Jammu and Kashmir state wide
\nexecutive powers eroded by New Delhi over the years.<\/p>\n
But Farooq Abdullah, the party's chief minister in waiting
\nafter the first local polls since 1987, would find it difficult
\nto prise autonomy out of New Delhi's hands, analysts said.<\/p>\n
The charismatic Abdullah's success was crucial if the Indian
\ngovernment was to meet Kashmiri aspirations, they said.<\/p>\n
\"I think poor old Farooq may have bitten off more than he can
\nchew,\" political analyst Rashid Talib said.<\/p>\n
\"What (he) has to do is secure a situation in which only
\ndefense, communications and foreign affairs are vouchsafed to the
\ncenter.\"<\/p>\n
Under the Indian constitution adopted in 1950, Kashmiris had
\ncharge of all their affairs except these three. But since 1952,
\nNew Delhi has gradually encroached on the other areas as well.
\nKashmiris now look to Abdullah to reclaim them.<\/p>\n
Abdullah was chief minister in 1990, when New Delhi dismissed
\nhis government after an Islamic separatist revolt flared, saying
\nthe state government was soft on separatism.<\/p>\n
Police and hospital sources say more than 20,000 people have
\ndied in the insurgency-related violence.<\/p>\n
Abdullah's aides said they could not see the way clear to
\nreconciling the separatists, but hoped to find a solution.<\/p>\n
\"Through dialog we shall decide that,\" Saifuddin Soz, the
\nparty spokesman, said. \"It is not that we have a magic wand and
\nall separatism will go.<\/p>\n
Soz said his party would have to boost economic activity,
\ncrippled by violence. \"We must from day one create an impression
\nthat so many things are important in life -- a good road,
\nelectricity, employment to our youth.\"<\/p>\n
On autonomy, Abdullah might draw hope from the fact that Prime
\nMinister H.D. Deve Gowda's government was keener on
\ndecentralization than the previous Congress government.<\/p>\n
Abdullah's party refused to participate in parliamentary
\nelections held earlier this year, saying that the Congress
\ngovernment of then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was not
\ncommitted to meeting his party's autonomy demands.<\/p>\n
But after Deve Gowda assumed power in June, his center-left
\nUnited Front coalition pledged \"maximum autonomy\" to Kashmir.
\nThe National Conference decided to participate in last month's
\nlocal assembly polls anticipating an autonomy package.<\/p>\n
But the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party has vowed to oppose any
\nattempt in parliament to grant a special status for Kashmir.<\/p>\n
\"It is up to Abdullah to make the changes,\" said Mohammed
\nMaqbool Shah, a former civil servant. \"It is only the commitment
\nthat makes his party relevant. If he fails, then the party
\nbecomes irrelevant.\"<\/p>\n
\"New Delhi has always broken its promises to Kashmir in the
\npast,\" said Manzoor Anjum, editor of the Urdu language daily
\nUqab. \"But this is a new government and it knows it will alienate
\nKashmiris if it doesn't give us autonomy.\"<\/p>\n
Talib said Farooq would play for time. \"I don't expect any
\ngenuine improvement,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But the Kashmiri demand for autonomy would affect Indian
\npolitics, Talib said. \"Kashmir may prove to be a catalyst in
\nmoving the Indian polity towards a genuinely federal structure.\"<\/p>",
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