Karan Singh resigns from autonomy committee

Former governor Dr Karan Singh has resigned as chairman of the committee on autonomy which was formed by the Farooq Abdullah government soon after it came to power in October 1996. The committee was meant to recommend measures for restoration of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir within the framework of the 1952 Delhi accord.

Dr Karan Singh, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha on the National Conference ticket, faxed his resignation to J&K Chief Minister Dr Abdullah on Tuesday, official sources in Srinagar said.

His resignation, which the chief minister said was made on 'personal grounds', has been accepted and state works minister Mohiuddin Shah has been appointed working chairman of the committee. Former state assembly speaker Mirza Abdul Rasheed has been nominated to the committee to fill up the vacancy created by Dr Singh's resignation.

Dr Singh's resignation is a setback to the rapprochement that began between Dr Abdullah and the former just before the elections, last year. This rapprochement was seen as a landmark development which buried the hatchet between two families that have, traditionally, been bitter opponents of each other.

If the present development marks the end of that rapprochement, then the future of Dr Singh's son, state cabinet member Ajatshatru, could also be at stake. While there are no immediate indications that the fallout of this resignation could cost Ajatshatru his cabinet berth, ruling party MLAs have blamed Dr Singh for the 'failure of the autonomy panel in making any headway so far'. The ruling party MLAs say he failed to convene a single meeting of the committee during the last eight months.

Locally, the overall impression has been that the autonomy committee is not doing anything constructive for the state. Many sympathisers of the ruling party have accused the government of willfully giving up its most important political agenda by relegating the autonomy issue to the back-burner.

But now Dr Abdullah has assured the state that the committee shall make its presentation before the end of September. While the people of Jammu and Kashmir wait and watch.

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