Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, who had been harping for greater autonomy for Kashmir, said that an independent Kashmir is not feasible.
Abdullah was reacting to a controversial statement attributed to Arundhati Roy that Kashmiris want liberation from India as much as India wants separation from Kashmir.
"This would lead to another division of the country," Farooq told the media persons. "As I said autonomy is the only workable solution to the problem. We need greater autonmy and setup autonomous hill councils in Jammu, Poonch and Rajouri," he said
Abdullah and his son Omar Abdulla had been spitting fire on allotment of land to the shrine board for setting up temporary facilities to the pilgrims who visit holy cave of Amarnath.
"We are fighting for our land," Omar Abdullah had said in his speech while speaking in favour of Manmohan Singh's government.
In last few weeks their tempers have cooled down while Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has never been able to achieve his ambition of joining hands with the Pakistanis, realize that if they don't get support of the people then the Centre may not talk to them as and when the talks are resumed.
Former president of All Party Hurriyat Conference Abdul Gani Bhatt told rediff.com from his residence in Srinagar that he had no idea as to what is going on in the valley. "Believe me I have not an iota of idea of what is going on," he said.
Bhatt agreed with the suggestion that while referring to economic blockade of the valley, there should have been a reference to blockade of Leh and whole of Ladakh as the same road goes to valley first and then to Ladakh. "I think that was a mistake," he admitted.
National Security Advisor M K Naryanan and other senior officials of the home and defence ministry who accompanied him had day-long deliberations with the security chiefs and Governor N N Vohra.
The delegation will visit Jammu on Thursday to hold talks with the members of The Sangarsh Samiti in a bid to find amicable solution to the land transfer row.
In Delhi the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is leading the agitation expressed its strong resentment on the tough stand taken by the Kashmiri militants who forced thousands of migrant labourers to flee the valley. Local Kashmiri Muslims had alleged that this was an attempt to change the demographic structure of Muslim majority area and convert them into Hindu majority regions-a charge led by Dr Farooq Abdullah.
"The bogey of so-called economic blockade exposed the Kashmiri propagandists. In 2008 in July, the number of trucks that went to valley was 2300 where as the number of trucks ferrying the goods to Srinagar and other areas during the same month last year was 2000," Prakash Javadekar told newsmen at a press conference in New Delhi.
The Sangarh Samiti members while extending the blockade by another five days said that those who want to lend their support to the reinstatement of land allotted to Sri Amarnath Shrine Board should do so but not on political grounds.
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