New Delhi: Rejecting the report of Prime
Minister`s Working Group which has recommended autonomy for
Jammu and Kashmir, BJP on Friday said it was an "improperly
prepared" document intended to convey the government`s
willingness to "dilute" its position on the state.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior BJP
leader Arun Jaitley, who was a member of the Working Group,
said the Centre should not act on the report on the "sensitive
political issue" having bearing on national sovereignty as it
was not based on consensus but "unilaterally authored".
He said the last meeting of the 21-member Working Group,
headed by Justice (retd) Saghir Ahmed and including leaders of
various political parties, was held on September 3, 2007 and
the Group was virtually abandoned since then.
"What was the compulsion to by-pass the Working Group and
produce the report?... It is .. surprising that this Group has
come out with the report on various important and sensitive
issues," said the BJP leader whose party is against any
special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
He contended that it was "improper for a retired judge to
have drafted a report on sensitive political subjects
impinging on national sovereignty, that too two years after
the last meeting of the Group without bothering to discuss it
with any member" of the committee.
"I have an uneasy feeling that the Government wants to
show to some sections of the international community that it
is willing to dilute the Indian position on Jammu and Kashmir.
Is this report showcased for that purpose?"
PTI
