Srinagar, June 23: Government of India is in the process of “diluting Article 370 to annul special status to Jammu and Kashmir”, experts said on Saturday, asserting that the proposals like appointment of apolitical interlocutors to talk to different sections of the state was “nothing more than a time-buying tactic.”
 Speaking at the first day of the two-day national level seminar on “Innovative Federal Structures and Conflict Resolution” at DPS Srinagar, some political scientists asserted that the Government of India was “trying to abolish Article 370.”
 In his paper on the theme, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha and expert on parliamentary affairs, Dr Subhash C Kashyap said the “Constitution of India is the most potent conflict resolution mechanism to have been founded on the spirit of accommodation, adjustment and respect for ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity.” “Conflicts like Punjab, Tamil and North-East were sought to be resolved under the Constitution at every point of time. The creation of new states from 14 to 28 took place owing to ethnic and linguistic demands in the Union. Inter-state councils dealing with financial, educational and political matters in every state of India have been formed as soft ways of conflict resolution,” Dr Kashyap said.
 He said “Article 370 should be abolished in J&K in a bid to reorganize states for a multi-tier federal structure. A revision of union-state should be carried out to assure that sovereignty is vesting in people at the grassroots level. And Panchayats have to be gifted with power so that a top-down model becomes down-up.”
 Speaking on the occasion, Prof Partha S Ghosh, Professor of South Asian Studies School of International Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi said that “Kashmir problem cannot be aptly understood without having knowledge of India’s foreign policy. The issue of Kashmir is at the topmost priority of India’s policy and New Delhi would not resort to anything that would cost it the state of Jammu and Kashmir.”
 Prof Ghosh said interlocutors’ appointment was nothing more than a “time-buying tactic.” “GOI is in the process of abolishing Article 370 that grants special status to J&K,” he said.
 In his paper titled “Federal Practice: A Kashmir Perspective“, Mushtaq Ahmad, a research scholar at the Department of Political Science of University of Kashmir said the approach of New Delhi towards J&K had “never been federal and the signing of Indus Water Treaty in 1961 eroded the very sovereignty of the state. After 1953 a gradual and severe erosion of Article 370 started in Jammu and Kashmir.” “There is a dire need of autonomy to the state to undo the wrongs committed in the past. However it may not be possible to revert to the classical and pristine form of autonomy but there must be negotiations to draft the relationships afresh in a spirit of trust with greater sincerity,” Mushtaq said.
 Professor Susheela Bhan, M P Singh and Rekha Chowdhry also spoke at the seminar sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir Initiative for Peace (JKIP) and Institute of Peace Research and Action (IPRA).

Lastupdate on : Sat, 23 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 23 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST