Why doesn’t India discuss PoK issue with Pak, asks Karan Singh

Why doesn’t India discuss PoK issue with Pak, asks Karan Singh
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 22
Dr Karan Singh, MP and scion of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, today questioned the Kashmir policies of the Centre, asking why India did not rake up the issue of the conditions of the people in occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit and called for respect and acknowledgement of sacrifices and contribution by the Jammu region.

He also hinted at his displeasure at the selection of the three interlocutors chosen by the Centre for a solution of the Kashmir issue.

“I don’t talk much on such issues in public. I give my opinion and advice only to UPA President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I had also suggested them some names. I will not say whether the names were accepted or not, but I wish good luck to these people,” he said, refusing to talk further on the issue.

He followed on his speech made at a function in Akhnoor yesterday where he said the interlocutors would come to know the difference between Kathua, which is in Jammu and Kashmir, and Kahuta, which was the nuclear base of Pakistan.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function, Dr Karan Singh said the Kashmir issue was a “human problem” and not a “political problem” as described by Union Home Minister P Chidambram. He said the Jammuites should meet the interlocutors and educate them about the rich history, aspirations and grievances of the people.

“Kashmir was part of the Dogra state. It was ours. We saved it but the work and sacrifices of the people of Jammu as well as Ladakh should be respected equally and acknowledged,”he said.

Karan Singh said he had a roadmap about the solution of the issue, but would not discuss it in public.

Asked to comment on how serious was the Centre in solving the Kashmir issue, Dr Karan said: “It is supposed to be serious for the past 63 years. We had 84,000 sq km of area, which has been reduced to about 42,000 sq km. Why not discuss the area occupied by Pakistan?”
BOX:
A day after saying that accession of the state to India was legal, Dr Karan Singh changed track,saying the accession was all right, but it was true that the state did not merge with India. Endorsing the controversial views of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that the state did not merge with India, Dr Karan Singh said the state had same accession documents as other states but some had an instrument of merger also, which the state did not have. That was why, the state had a special status.Historians, however, have been insisting that only smaller states had a system of merger where they were united with bigger states for better administration.
EOM

(Published in The Tribune, dated, October 23, 2010)