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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Minister of State for Home Affairs, I D Swami, has strongly defended the appointment of Arun Jaitley, former minister of law and justice and currently general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as an interlocutor to hold talks with the Jammu and Kashmir government on the autonomy issue.
Speaking to rediff.com Swami said that since the matter to be discussed involves knowledge of the Constitution and law of the land, Jaitley is the best man for the job.
He did not agree with the criticism of the Congress that it was wrong to appoint a partyman as interlocutor to represent the government.
"It is a matter of time before the notification of the appointment is issued. When Jaitley is accorded Cabinet rank then he would automatically become the government representative," Swami contended.
Asked what could one expect from the talks when the Centre has already rejected the autonomy proposal, Swami said that the J&K government might have 'something new to offer'.
"While announcing the appointment of Jaitley on the floor of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, (Deputy Prime Minister) Advaniji had said that the government would consider any proposal other than the restoration of pre-1953 status," he said.
Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy commenting on the appointment of Arun Jaitley said, "This government is the government of interlocutors. First we have K C Pant appointed as interlocutor, then K Padmanabaiah (to negotiate with the NSCN-IM) and now we have Arun Jaitley. Someday they would appoint an interlocutor to talk to the opposition members in the Lok Sabha as well."
When contacted, Arun Jaitley refused to say anything.
"I am yet to go through the constitution of J&K, the autonomy resolution and other legal documents. I am not saying anything on the subject," Jaitley said.
Farooq Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, has appointed Gulam Mohiuddin Shah, a senior minister in his Cabinet, to hold talks with Jaitley on the autonomy issue.
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