NEW DELHI(PTI): Indian Federal Home Minister, $.B.Chavan, on Sept4 said the Indian govemment wanted to create conditions conductive to free and fair elections in Kashmir and was willing to talk to anyone “if they shun the gun and are willing to accept the constitution.”

Inaugurating a seminar on Kashmir and national integration” here, Chavan said it was essential that the genuine representatives of the people of Kashmir must be allowed to come up through a democratic process,

 “On our part, we have the will, deter mination‘ and capacity to understand the aspirations of the people, to take measure for solving their genuine difficulties: and problems and to recommence the journey. of the state towards development and prosperity,” the minister said.

Chavan assured the people of Kashmir that the government would not be found wanting in is efforts (o restore peace and democracy in the state and preserve the country’s integrity, Launching a frontal attack on Pakistan for “annexing a part of our country,” the minister said Pakistan had commenced yet an= other round of “aggrandizement™ by promoting subversion, seces= sionism, religious extremism, fun= damentalism and terrorism in Kashmir in the name of “Jihad.”

Chavan said while Pakistan had refused to vacatc its aggression, India lived up to its assurance OF consulting the people of Jammu and Kashmir, notwithstanding its unequivocal accession to India.

He pointed out that India continued to maintain the “different” Status of Kashmir and had stead fatly refused to change it even in the face of vociferous demands from certain sections for abroga  tion of article 370 of the constitution.

 “Not only this, the issue of plebiscite Was one again finally sealed after the Indira Gandhi Sheikh Abdullah accord of 1975 which was followed by elections In Jammu and Kashmir,” the minister said. Pakistan, on the other hand, was trying to renege from its obligations under the Simla agreement giving all kinds of new dimensions to the situation in Kashmir, he said.

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 10, 1993