| On Feb 9, Farooq opposed Telengana, on Feb 18, he supported it | | Reorganize J&K State | | Rustam
JAMMU, Feb 19: NC president and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday took a complete U-turn and sided with the Congress. He and other NC Lok Sabha members supported the government's Bill seeking creation of Telengana State out of Andhra Pradesh. The Lok Sabha adopted the Bill amidst loud protests and chaos by a voice vote and the Speaker deprived the nation of its right to watch the proceedings. The Congress and the Speaker created an emergency-like situation with a number of senior Parliamentarians staging a walkout and describing February 18 a black day for India.
Only last week, Farooq Abdullah had opposed the demand in Andhra Pradesh for the creation of Telengana State, saying this southern state should not be divided when its people do not want it. "I think it (the issue of Telangana) has gone out of gear, terribly out of gear. You have seen 70 per cent, 80 per cent of people do no want division, yet a division is taking place....The people of the State do not want division. We should not divide," he told reporters in Delhi as Parliament adjourned once again over the issue. When reminded that the Union Cabinet, of which he is a member, had approved the division of the State, he said he did not attend the meeting as he was out of station.
The manner in which Farooq Abdullah and his party took a 180 degree turn once again established that they can change their position any time and that they are utterly undependable. But this was not the occasion when the NC leadership took a complete U-turn and ate its words. This has been its permanent trait. It has repeatedly changed its stance to enjoy power or to remain on the right side of the ruling elite in New Delhi.
Now that the NC has supported division of Andhra Pradesh, it is also time for the NC-led coalition government to introduce a Bill seeking reorganization of the state on a regional basis as the people of Jammu and Ladakh are fed up with the existing Kashmiri-dominated polity and as they believe, and rightly, that they have no hope of justice and fair play under the existing highly unitary politico-administrative and constitutional structure. It cannot support the creation of Telengana State and oppose the demand in Jammu and Kashmir for its reorganization saying those who are demanding reorganization of the state are communal, parochial, anti-Kashmir, and even anti-national. The case of the neglected and marginalized Jammu province and Ladakh region is strong as compared to the people of the highly developed Telengana region. In fact, there is nothing whatsoever that is common between Kashmir and Jammu and between the former and Ladakh. |
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