Srinagar, Jan. 27 -- First, it harks back to a proposal mooted by King Hussein of Jordan in 1972. This proposal- met with both exasperation and resistance by Palestinians and the broader Arab world- suggested that Jordan and parts of Palestine be merged. While it never saw the 'proverbial light of the day', but it appears to be raised in a new avatar. Why, the question is, is the 'Jordanian option' a nonstarter? Primarily, it subsumes the historical and legitimate aspirations into a quasi-federation that 'cleanses' their ethno-religious matrix and collapses it into a federation. Second, the post-colonial Arab state- in general terms- is an artificial construct with straddling borders that house different ethnicities, religions and denomin...