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| Mustafa harps on revival of Plebiscite Front | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 13: He is at it again. He is none other than senior National Conference leader, Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, who draws his political strength from being brother of Union Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and uncle of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, has issued yet another sermon favouring revival of the erstwhile Plebiscite Front. He does so with the sole idea of resolving the Kashmir issue by allowing people of the State to exercise their right of self-determination, as provided in the UN resolutions on Kashmir. Since he has not been given a berth in the Cabinet headed by Omar Abdullah, for which he has blamed the Congress in general and the PCC chief, Saif-ud-Din Soz, in particular Kamaal seems to have sufficient time in fabricating novel as well obsolete ideas which have the potential of bringing the four-year old Congress-NC alliance under stress and strain.
It is not yet clear whether Kamaal has been given the liberty by the party leadership to fulminate against the Government of India and the Indian Army, simply to keep the vote bank of the party intact or he is trying to cause a wedge between the Congress and the NC thereby destabilising the NC led Government.
According to Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, the ruling National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir believes that "revival of the Plebiscite Front is the best option" with the party to get the Kashmir issue resolved. It may be mentioned here that the Plebiscite Front was formed in 1955 after the arrest of then Prime Minister and Omar's grandfather Sheikh Abdullah in August 1953. The Front was disbanded in 1975 after the Sheikh-Indira accord that set the stage for Sheikh Abdullah's return to power as Chief Minister. Mustafa makes it clear that Plebiscite offers the choice to the people of the two parts of this Himalayan State to choose between India and Pakistan as their country.
What can be objectionable is Mustafa's assertion that "plebiscite is the best option available with us if Delhi continues to push us to the wall." These remarks Mustafa has made in the light of the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on Saturday. Since the majority of NC leaders, Farooq Abdullah not included, have given vent to their anger against the way the execution of Afzal Guru took place.
His comment that the party has been left with the only option of reviving the Plebiscite Front because of the way the party leaders were being pushed to the wall is totally out of context and highly irrelevant. Those who question Sheikh Mustafa's uncharitable remarks wish to remind him that the National Conference has enjoyed power in Jammu and Kashmir for more than 32 years. And for most of these years two to three people from the Sheikh dynasty have remained members of the Cabinet. Did the revival of Plebiscite hit the mind of Sheikh Mustafa when he remained a member of the Cabinet headed by his brother, Farooq Abdullah? Or does Mustafa being used as a buffer between the NC, which has been registering rapid erosion, and the people in Kashmir ?
People have developed doubts about the role being played by Kamaal and the party General Secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, which seems to be anti-India and pro-extremists. Invariably such a role by top NC leaders used to be adopted whenever the party has remained in the opposition or in political wilderness, as had been the case between 1953 and 1974. The proper person to answer this question is Dr Farooq Abdullah who continues to display view on Guru's execution which is opposed to the line adopted by other top party leaders, including Omar Abdullah, and in tune with the stand taken by the Congress led UPA Government. Farooq needs to clarify his stand on the issue and show his courage, if it is left in him, to force Kamaal and Nazir to observe restrain. |
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