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| Sheikh Family skips Shah's anniversary | | NC-ANC merger! | | early times report
Jammu, Jan 6: The chances of reunion of Sheikh and Shah Families received a jolt today when no member from the state's second family attended prayer meetings held to commemorate the death anniversary of former Chief Minister, Ghulam Muhammad Shah.
Two prayer meetings one each at Jammu and Srinagar were held and the Sheikh family was conspicuous by its absence. Speculations about the possible reunion of the two families were rife in the first week of December, 2012 when the Sheikh Family was supposed to take a final decision on National Conference Additional General Secretary, Dr Mustafa Kamaal.
Interestingly, Kamaal unmindful of the political storm he created by his controversial statements had hinted at possible reunion of Sheikh and Shah Families around December. He even issued a statement and thus vindicated Early Times story filed in September last year.
Sources close to the families had confirmed the efforts put in by various quarters for the reunion. The two families split in 1984 when former Chief Minister and founder of Awami National Conference (ANC), Ghulam Mohammad Shah assu-med office of the Chief Minister of the state after ousting Dr Farooq Abdullah. Shah's rule lasted 19 months.
The relation was smoothened a bit when Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah called on his sister, Khalida Shah to enquire about her health. The two families met again when Dr Mustafa Kamaal returned from Hajj pilgrimage. It is believed that the idea of reunion and merger of AN C into NC was also discussed in a meeting behind closed
doors that lasted for quite some time.
Dr Farooq, according to sources, took personal interest in convincing his sister on the merger and also offered a Cabinet berth to the party. "Senior Vice President of ANC and nephew of the NC President in all likelihood may be nominated by the party for membership of the state legislative council. He is also expected to be inducted into the
state cabinet later", the sources added.
However, while people close to the two families were planning a grand celebration, the absence of Sheikh Family in the prayer meetings has disappointed them. While addressing the Srinagar meeting, former Chief Minister's son, Muzaffar Shah refrained from attacking the Omar led government. He said: "If people support us in the 2014 elections, we shall try to take GM Shah's mission to its logical end. We will release
political prisoners and put an end to corruption." |
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