FAROOQ AUTONOMY: Some hard thinking on the Hurriyat necessary.

THIS is not the first time that Farooq Abdullah has sought to divert attention from his absentee chief ministership by voicing the demand for autonomy. Kashmir already gets very special treatment among the states of the Indian Union, its special position is well recognised and not without great cost to the rest of the nation. To suggest, as he does that the title Sadar-i-Riasat be reintroduced in place of the more common Governor is without substance but not without significance. It is not a secret that Farooq has been very uneasy about the reported dialogue with the Hurriyat leaders, something this newspaper has welcomed. The contacts have not progressed because of Farooq's …