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| Two parties, one agenda | | | Prof Hari Om
The Peoples Demo
cratic Party is in the
driving seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Its arch-political foe the National Conference is the main opposition party. The former advocates self-rule as a solution to the "Kashmir problem" and also pitches for a regime that enables Islamabad to enjoy equal sovereign powers with New Delhi in the Indian Jammu and Kashmir. The National Conference, on the other hand, vouches for greater autonomy for the State and also follows in the footsteps of the Peoples Democratic Party as far as its attitude towards Pakistan is concerned.
Self-rule and greater autonomy are two sides of one and the same coin; there is no fundamental difference between the two concepts. Both vouch for withdrawal of all the central laws and institutions from Jammu and Kashmir, as they consider them responsible for the "alienation of Kashmiri Muslims". The National Conference describes self-rule document as "a carbon-copy of autonomy committee report" of 2000 and the People Democratic Party doesn't really debunk the National Conference's claim.
By the alienation of Kashmiri Muslims, the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference, like separatists of all hues, mean the alienation of the entire population of Jammu and Kashmir. They claim that they represent the general will and assert and reassert that the grant of self-rule/greater autonomy, plus "reconciliation" with Pakistan or accommodation of aspirations of Kashmiri Muslims and Pakistan is the best way forward and the only way forward. Very interestingly, both the Kashmir-based parties hail BJP's Vajpayee and urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emulate him to settle the "political issue of Kashmir politically" and befriend Pakistan by announcing concessions to Pakistan unilaterally.
It was on December 5 that National Conference leaders, including party president Farooq Abdullah, working President Omar Abdullah and former party general secretary Mustafa Kamal and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti spoke with one voice at two different places - Srinagar and Delhi. The Abdullahs used the occasion of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah's 110th birth anniversary to reiterate their stand on greater autonomy, attack the "intolerant" Indian political system and yet again declare that PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan are parts of Pakistan and India must forget them. Farooq Abdullah also used the opportunity to question the very capability of Indian defence machine. Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah also didn't forget to appreciate the report that Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj might visit Pakistan on December 8 and expressed hope that her visit could culminate in the resumption the stalled dialogue process between India and Pakistan.
Farooq Abdullah's younger brother and Omar Abdullah's uncle Mustafa Kamal went several steps further. He even crossed the red line. He said neither India trust Kashmiri Muslims nor Pakistan believes them. He rejected his party's age-old insistence on greater autonomy and declared that Kashmir will attain independence one day. "Azadi or freedom is written in our destiny. Neither India nor Pakistan has love for us.
By heart, both of them (India and Pakistan) do not like us. The leadership of India does not consider us their own...and same is the case with Pakistan, they do not love us, that is why I think Allah has written azadi in our destiny and we will get it," he said. Neither Farooq Abdullah rebuffed him, nor did Omar Abdullah distance the party from his highly objectionable statement.
In New Delhi, it was the Hindustan Times Summit that provided Mehbooba Mufti an opportunity to speak whatever she wanted to speak. She used the opportunity to the hilt, attacked "Hindu fringes" and equated them with dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), condoned the crimes of those who wave Pakistan and ISIS flags in Kashmir, tore into the Indian media for creating hype on the ongoing pro-Pakistan and pro-ISIS activities in Kashmir, welcomed Sushma Swaraj's proposed visit to Pakistan, hailed the victory of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar over the BJP-led NDA, asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region that deserves a special treatment, without mincing words said that the people of Jammu and Ladakh have no other option but to accept the Kashmiri will and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to adopt the Vajpayee line on Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. Besides, she, like the Abdullahs, told the Summit that Pakistan is a stakeholder in Jammu and Kashmir, whatever India may think about it.
Believe it or not, but it is also a fact that she virtually warned India that it would become Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria in case it failed to accommodate the Kashmiri Muslims' aspirations. She blamed the rise of the IS on the military campaigns waged by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq and said these military campaigns have created a "feeling of victimhood" among Muslims.
Underline the words "Kashmiri Muslims' aspirations". Also underline her condition: "If Kashmiris chose to be a part of democratic and secular India (in 1947), we need to be given something in return; we need to be treated special".
It was not a co-incidence that the Abdullahs and Mehbooba Mufti spoke the same language, advocate similar ideology, administer an identical threat to India and told the country in unequivocal language as to what they stand for. They spoke what they were expected to speak and there was absolutely nothing new in what they spoke on the same day at two different places. They only restated their original positions in the strongest possible terms.
Another thing that was common between the Peoples Democratic Party leader and National Conference leaders was that they didn't a say a word against separatists like Geelani and Mirwaiz. In fact, they commended them without saying so and gave everyone to understand that they and separatists of all categories are part of the ongoing movement in Kashmir.
It is hardly necessary to mention what the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party leaders meant by what they said, as each and every word that they spoke was self-explanatory. Suffice it to say that they passed two votes of no confidence against New Delhi and asked it to quit not only Kashmir but also Jammu and Ladakh. And what surprised the country in general and the people of Jammu and Ladakh in particular all the more was the silence of the BJP on what the champions of Kashmir, self-rule, autonomy and Pakistan said.
Situation in Jammu and Kashmir is far from normal. The worst part of the whole situation is the attitude of the "mainstream" Kashmiri parties towards the Indian Constitution and Pakistan.
Only some surgical operation can help New Delhi retrieve the fast-deteriorating situation in Kashmir and save Jammu and Ladakh from the impending disaster. New Delhi has to ensure that the ruling and opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir do not go beyond the constitutional confines and that they discharge their obligations to the state and the people to the best of their ability and capacity. |
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