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| Nothing new in NC resolutions | | Competing With PDP | | Rustam
JAMMU, Dec 11: The National Conference (NC) Working Committee on December 8 adopted with much fanfare as many as seven resolutions. The purpose obviously was to convince the people of the state in general and Kashmir valley in particular that it has not deviated from the path it charted for itself years ago. Yet another objective was to convince the people that it is the only party that can provide better and transparent governance and restore peace not only in the Valley but also in the region. In fact, its objective was to tell the people that its agenda is not only people-centric, but it, if given an effect to, would also help harmonize India-Paki-stan relations, restore pre-1953 politicoconstitutional status, bring this part closer to the other part of the state and reduce the footprints of the Army in Jammu & Kash-mir. In fact, its fundamental objective was to tell the people that the NC, and not the People's Demo-cratic Party (PDP) that vouches for self-rule, is the only party the people should repose confidence in. The NC considers, and very rightly, the PDP its main political rival not only in Kashmir, but also in certain Muslim-majority constituencies in Jammu region. Indeed, the PDP poses a potential threat to the very existence of the Kashmir's premier political organization.
It would be desirable to catalogue here all the seven resolutions for the information of readers of EARLY TIMES so that they know what exactly the NC stands for. One, "India and Pakistan must enter into a sustained dialogue and find a permanent solution to the Kashmir imbroglio which is acceptable to all the stakeholders and can lead to a lasting peace in the region". Two, "the restoration of the autonomy continues to be the bedrock of the National Conference's policy and agenda". Three, "the state must continue its efforts with the Government of India for the revocation of the AFSPA in a phased manner". Four, "the party appreciates the state government, who with the support of the Union Government, has been able to bring peace and normalcy in the state which has accelerated the pace of development in the state, as also improved the economy thereby increasing the per capita income". Five, "the party advised that the state government should impress upon the Government of India to take up with the Government of Pakistan the issue of streamlining of trade across the LoC wherein barter system should be replaced by the system of cash transfer". Six, "the party appreciates the measures taken by the government to bring accountability, transparency and efficiency in the governance by implementing the Right to Information Act, the reconstitution of the State Accountability Commission, the promulgation of the Public Service Guarantee Act and urged the government to constitute the State Vigilance Commission at the earliest". Seven, "the state government should take up with the Union Government the issue of opening of the Jammu-Sialkot road, Nowshera Changer-Mirpur road, Kargil-Skardu road and Mendhar-Tattapani road".
Even a cursory glance at the resolutions would suggest that there was nothing new whatever in them. The NC leadership had been airing such views almost on a daily basis since long knowing it fully well that there was hardly any taker for them in several parts of the state as well as New Delhi. Take, for example, its stand on autonomy, AFSPA and India-Pakistan relations. Notwithstanding the fact that there are a few elements in the Indian political establishment and the Congress who are not really averse to the demands as put forth by the NC, the nation on the whole and its pressure have always acted as a brake. The nation is not at all prepared to allow the Union Government to concede any of the demands put forth by the NC. Besides, it is a fact that the NC has rendered all the institutions it talked about in the resolution ineffective and unreal for all practical purposes. Not only this, nobody in the state is prepared to give any credence to its resolutions on the nature of the government and panchayati raj institutions. For, people of the state, barring the vested interests, know that the NC is a party that is fundamentally anti-democratic and a party that has ruined the state politically, socially and economically. Only a handful of people close to the NC and the corridors of power are happy under the dispensation that it has handed down. The PDP is right when it says that the "successive NC regimes in the state indulged in deceit to undermine democratic institutions".
The fact of the matter is that the NC has no attractive wares to put in the political market for sale. It knows it and that is the reason the NC working president and others of his ilk in the party are trying their best to forge a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party. It is the fear of the PDP that has compelled him and his close associates to befriend the Congress so that the NC could compete with the PDP and remain somewhat relevant in the state politics.
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