NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Tohra clarifies about autonomy demand

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Former president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Gurcharan Singh Tohra has denied that he had asked for autonomy on the lines of the Anandpur Sahib resolution.

Speaking to rediff.com on phone from Chandigarh, Tohra clarified that at no point of time had he mentioned the Anandpur Sahib resolution to mediapersons while reacting to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly passing a resolution approving greater autonomy for the state.

"I never said that the centre should consider giving autonomy to Punjab on the lines of the Anandpur Sahib resolution. Any such demand would be considered as a secessionist one," he said.

Tohra clarified that he was not asking for special status for Punjab. "But the centre must part with some of its powers as recommended by the Justice R S Sarkaria Commission. We have reached a stage when India should also adopt a federal structure and allow the states to have more decision-making and financial powers," he said.

"When we are trying to get autonomy for the Tamils in Sri Lanka, why should we not apply the same principle here?" he asked. He pointed out that the Telugu Desam Party and even Union Home Minister L K Advani have been talking of devolution of powers to the states.

He explained that in 1946, almost all the states had greater autonomy than what the J&K assembly is currently demanding. Only three subjects were under the centre - defence, foreign affairs and currency. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, while addressing a meeting on July 6, 1946, had promised that the Sikhs would also be given autonomy so that they could enjoy the fruits of freedom.

"I feel the time has come for the centre to start giving more powers to the states so that they can also develop and progress," he said. He charged the centre with interfering in state subjects.

"Agriculture is a state subject. Yet, the centre fixes the prices of fertilisers and at the prices at which farmers could sell their produce. Why shouldn't the states purchase, or import, the fertilisers its farmers demand?" he asked.

"I am not asking for anything special. I am not asking for autonomy on the basis of the Anandpur Sahib resolution," Tohra clarified.

ANOTHER STORY
Tohra's autonomy demand draws flak

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report