NEW DELHI: Dr.Farooq Abdullah president of the National Conference has extended his stay abroad apparently because there is no response from the Central govt to his 12-point formula for resolving the Kashmir tangle. Sources close to the party said that Farooq would return only if his proposals are accepted. This despite the fact that President R Venkataraman is likely to visit the Valley from August 22..
However former National Conference MP Prof. Saifuddin Soz maintains that the Center is considering the proposals seriously. He said that the prime minister may take some bold decisions on the Kashmir tangle and that the police administration in J and K would soon be replaced by able civil servants. In this context he named five IAS officers of state cadre who would hold talks with under-ground leaders and party workers to explore all possibilities of a negotiated settlement. The five officers are Sushma Chaudhry Arun Jaitley Mehboob-ur-Rehman Wahid Habib Ullah and M.L.Kaul. At the same time he accused the Delhi bureaucracy of mishandling the issue and not consulting the relevant politicians.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 23, 1991
