NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, is expected to take up the public airing of differences over the Kashmir situation with the ministers concerned.

Rao is understood to have indicated his displeasure with the manner in which his top Cabinet colleagues have shot off their mouths on the sensitive Kashmir situation. The Prime Minister’s response comes within hours of embarrassing interview by the Home Minister in London where he has pointedly declared that his junior in the North Block, Rajesh Pilot’s utterances should not be taken seriously, because he did not represent the official view. To add Salt to the wound, Chavan has said that Pilot did not enjoy independent charge of any department in the ministry.

Pilot was unavailable for comment. A spate of conflicting statements on the feasibility of holding elections and the delicate issue of autonomy have made a mockery of the Government’s attempt to resolve the Kashmir situation through the democratic process. While Chayan has maintained that time was ripe for holding elections in the strife tom valley, the Civil Aviation Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has bluntly said that the situation was not conducive for elections. Pilot has added another dimension to the swirling controversy with his offer of holding autonomy talks. Chavan is on record as haying rejected any question of discussing autonomy before the elections. The position reiterated by the Home Minister is that the Government was willing to consider the autonomy demand with elected representatives of the people, and this is something that could only come about in the postelection scenario. Pilot, on the other hand, has been: steadily achieving appreciation from at least the Ministry of External Affairs, hard passed over the Kashmir situation. Pilot’s approach of package and some visible movement forward, including the release of militants is in contrast with the Home Minister and the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, K.V. Krishna Rao, more cautious and somewhat harder line.

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 4, 1994