Kashmiris reject Indian PM’s autonomy offer

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

SRINAGAR: Kashmiri leaders in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) on Wednesday dismissed overtures from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for greater political autonomy in the region following months of anti-India unrest.

Appealing to Kashmiri Muslims to “give peace a chance,” Singh had said on Tuesday that his government would consider any consensus proposal for autonomy as long as it remained “within the ambit” of the constitution. He also announced the creation of a panel of experts that would draw up a “jobs plan” for IHK where rampant unemployment — especially among young people — is fuelling the already deep resentment against Indian rule. But senior Kashmiri leaders rejected Singh’s initiative.e. “Our fight is for independence, not autonomy,” Javed Mir, a former militant commander turned politician, told AFP. “We will continue our fight for our goal through peaceful protests,” said Mir, who had been among the first Kashmiris to take up arms in 1989. Under the terms of its accession to India in 1947 — after independence from the UK and the sub-continent’s division — Kashmir was granted a relatively high degree of autonomy, excluding areas like defence and foreign affairs. But those powers have been eroded over the years, and renewed promises of greater autonomy gain little traction among the circles. “Our struggle is not for the restoration of autonomy. It is to seek our right to self-determination,” Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told AFP.