NEW DELHI, Jan 17: India said on Monday it would appoint a committee to examine the issue of granting occupied Kashmir more regional autonomy, the United News of India agency reported.
"We decided to have a three or more member committee that will discuss autonomy," the agency quoted Home Minister Shivraj Patil as telling reporters. "The committee will come up with certain proposals which will be given to the home ministry. I will discuss them with the prime minister. We will then examine the whole issue of autonomy," Mr Patil said.
The legislative assembly of occupied Kashmir had unanimously passed a resolution in 2000 favouring autonomy for the region except in defence, finance and communication matters - an arrangement that was in place before 1952. However, the then nationalist government had rejected the resolution.
The idea was also rejected by Kashmiri freedom fighters, who are divided between those who want either independence for Kashmir or those who want it incorporated into Pakistan.
PASSPORT OFFICE: Meanwhile, the Indian government closed down its main passport office in Srinagar after it was badly damaged in a weekend gun battle between Indian troops and Mujahideen which left four people dead.
"The office will not be open for some time, until further orders (from New Delhi)," John Shilshi, who runs the office, told reporters in Srinagar. Two security forces were killed and two wounded in the shootout at a complex in Srinagar, which had been requisitioned as a temporary barracks by the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force. -Agencies
