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| Has Omar Abdullah violated official secrets Act of 1923? | | |
Early Times Report
jammu, July 31: Has Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, violated the official secrets Act? He seems to have done so inadvertently when he alleged that the Kashmiri separatists were opposing holding talks with New Delhi but were in touch with the Indian intelligence agencies. He went to the extent of blaming the separatists by adopting a double standard. And in support of his contention he claimed that separatists were in touch with New Delhi through its agencies secretly though outwardly these separatists continued to oppose resuming dialogue with the centre.
For the sake of argument if one presumes that what Omar has claimed is right he should not have, as Chief Minister, divulged the secret talks that these separatists were holding with Central agencies. It has been seen that during the process of resolving conflicts, disputes back channel diplomacy or talks have been in vogue to spare the two sides from facing any opposition or any ridicule.
This back channel diplomacy has been practiced for a number of years between India and Pakistan for the settlement of various bilateral issues. In such back channel interactions main characters and actors remain on the sidelines while character artists or side actors do the talking.
As Chief Minister of a highly sensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, is supposed to know whether the Valley based separatists are in touch with the IB or RAW functionaries or with some emissaries of Prime Minister or Home Minister. In fact the main purpose of the back channel diplomacy is to set the stage for a meeting between the main actors and characters.
By claiming that Kashmir separatists were secretly holding talks with New Delhi backed agencies Omar Abdullah has violated the official secrets Act. Not only this. He has complicated Delhi's task for bringing these separatists into the mainstream political spectrum.
And by doing so Omar has lifted the lid from the Pandora's box and this is evident from the reaction of the separatists. Kashmiri separatists refuted the statement made by Chief Minister wherein he said that the former were holding secret talks with agencies. The separatists castigated Omar Abdullah, saying that Kashmir is a political issue and agencies have no role in dialogue.
JKLF chief Mohd. Yasin Malik said that India has never been sincere in dialogue process. "It has always used the process to hoodwink the world opinion, to buy time, to release pressure on it and also to tease and harm resistance camp. India has never taken any step to resolve Kashmir problem but has always used the negotiation tool to crush resistance movements.
The Hurriyat Conference (M) senior leader Shahid-ul-Islam accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of being the double agent of India and Pakistan and blackmailing both the countries to stay in power.
In a hard hitting statement, Shahid, while reacting to the statement of Omar that separatists are in touch with Indian intelligence agencies, said that Omar Abdullah was playing a double game. He alleged that during 2006 Pugwash conclave in Islamabad, Omar Abdullah met the then ISI chief in Pakistan and sought his support for 2008 Assembly elections. "Omar is blackmailing both India and Pakistan and is using both the countries for his political interests," he said.
What seems amazing is the way Omar has opted for sabotaging the process of dialogue when he has been openly advocating resumption of dialogue between the centre and the Kashmiri separatists. He has been pleading for reopening of the channels of dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi for settling the Kashmir issue. And if Omar is sincere in supporting Separatists-Delhi talks why should he then put a spike in the dialogue wheels?
Kashmir watchers say that by trying to sabotage Delhi-separatists talks Omar was trying to seal chances for transfer of power from the NC to the separatists as had happened in 1975 when Indira-Sheikh Accord had enabled Sheikh Abdullah to regain power after 22 years. But Omar needs to know it that Sheikh Abdullah was an institution, the tallest political figure and he could turn the fortune's wheel. Against this separatists are not only a divided lot but a conglomerate of over 25 organisations and it may take a century for them to evolve a consensus on either contesting the Assembly election or getting power on a plattein, TNN
Despite recommendations from a Group of Ministers the Union home ministry is opposed to any dilution of the official secrets Act. The Ministry, after long-drawn deliberations over a Group of Ministers' (GoM) recommendation for amending the Official Secrets Act (OSA) in the interest of greater transparency, is reportedly not too keen on going ahead with making the change. The ministry is of the opinion that the 1923 anti-espionage law has stood the test of time and not seen any noticeable misuse to justify revisiting of its provisions. A review of OSA has been on the cards since 2006. |
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