NEW DELHI: The Union home minister, S.B.Chavan, has convened a meeting here of leaders of various political parties and groups on Oct,22-23 to discuss the latest situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the suggestion about appointing political advisers there.

An intense debate has been going on in political circles for some time now about the efficacy or otherwise of having political advisers to the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Girish Chandra Saxena.

The Prime Minister, P.V Narasimha Rao, has expressed his government’s commitment to create conditions for going through with the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir,

The next week’s meeting has been convened especially to discuss the issue and letters are being dispatched to the major political pares and groups inviting them for the talks.

Highly placed sources said the endeavor was aimed at assessing the views of the political parties on starting the political process in the trouble-torn border state.

The meeting to be chaired by Chavan will discuss, among other things, the pros and cons of appointing political advisers to the governor at this juncture, The proposal has evoked a mixed response So far,

Clearly, the Center wants to hear the views of all sections before making up its mind about appointing these advisors, Besides, the central leadership is aware that political advisers must have a wide representation of all the national and regional parties represented in the state if it is to serve any meaningful purpose.

The sources said the political parties were expected to come forward with suggestions whereby contacts could be established with the people at the grassroots level in Jammu and Kashmir, However, such an exercise entailed creating the necessary political infrastructure which has been non-existent for the last few years,

The response so far of the political parties to the proposal of appointing political advisers has been sharply diverse. While, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Ghulam Rasool Kar has stoutly opposed the idea all together, the Janata Dal leader and former Union home minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, favors such appointments from major political parties.

Kar has argued that setting up of a political advisory committee would led to an “extra-constitional authority” which in turn was bound to send wrong signals to the militants, He maintained that all steps should be taken to hold early elections in the state,

The BJP, in its capacity as the main opposition in the Lok Sabha has also opposed the suggestion. It has urged the Center to deal with the militants firmly and normalize the situation in the state.

The sources said that the state government had been relentless Pulling down the cult of violence in the state. Simultaneously, steps were being taken to streamline the administration to make it responsive to the needs of the people there.

It is in this context that the appointment of Sheikh Ghulam Rasool of the state cadre as chief secretary assumes importance, it was stated.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 30, 1992