Kashmir state assembly votes for autonomy after heated debate

The state assembly in northern India's disputed Kashmir state yesterday passed a controversial autonomy proposal by voice vote aimed at ending political discontent in the region wracked by separatist violence in which nearly 30,000 people have died.

Supported by the majority National Conference party, the landmark proposal demands the restoration of relations between Kashmir and the federal government that existed before 1953 under which all issues other than defence, currency, foreign affairs and communications would be the state government's responsibility. Under the proposal the chief minister would also be known as the Kashmir Prime Minister. Opposed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal coalition and Kashmir's Buddhist and Hindu communities, who view it as the first step to full secession by the state's Islamic majority, the autonomy resolution followed a week of heated debate in the state legislature.

It also strained relations between the BJP and the National Conference, which is part of the federal coalition. BJP legislators walked out of the assembly in protest and some even wore black headbands in disapproval. "We placed this report before the house and debated it with all sincerity and honesty," the chief minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah, said. He declared the National Conference did not want any confrontation with the federal government as everything could be sorted out across the table.

In response, the federal Home Minister, Mr L K Advani, said his government would consider the issue as it did not want to foreclose any option to resolve the Kashmir dispute, provided it was undertaken under the purview of the Indian constitution. The autonomy proposal will now be referred to a state committee for discussions with the federal government, before being forwarded to President K.R. Narayanan for ratification.

Critics of the proposal said the autonomy issue was merely a ruse to extract more money from the federal government. They also said it was a ploy by Mr Abdullah to pre-empt the federal authorities from opening any dialogue with the separatist All Party Huriyat Conference to resolve Kashmir's decade-old civil war for an Islamic homeland.

Some 300 Muslim refugees from Indian-controlled Kashmir have crossed into the Pakistani side of the territory after being beaten and threatened by Indian troops.