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| Rajiv-Farooq Accord produced Salahuddins, says Mufti | | Subversion of democracy | | Neha
JAMMU, May 4: Many people do not approve of the self-rule doctrine as advocated by the PDP. They say it is nothing but a carbon copy of the autonomy concept of the NC. They appear correct. There is no fundamental difference between the two concepts. Both advocate a regime that is outside the constitutional framework of India. But nobody with an objective outlook will disapprove of what PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said on Saturday about the Rajiv Gandhi-Farooq Abdullah power sharing accord. He said, and very rightly, that the 1987 accord was not just a bad omen for the people of the state in general and Kashmir in particular but also asserted that it was this atrocious anti-people and anti-democratic accord that produced Salahuddins in Kashmir and the result is there for all to see with their own eyes.
"The Rajiv-Farooq Accord in late 1980s was a bad omen and nuisance for Jammu & Kashmir. it was because of this agreement that NC rigged the (assembly) elections (in) 1987 and forced youth to take to arms. People like Syed Ali Geelani and Muhammad Yousuf Shah fought the (1987) elections which were rigged by the NC and turned Yousuf into Salahuddin," he said while addressing an election rally in Sumbal area of Bandipora district and added that the NC resorted to "tactical rigging in south Kashmir Lok Sabha elections recently by using stone-pelters to keep voters away from polling" and that the "administration provided shield to the stone-pelters instead of curbing the violence".
It would be only desirable to point out here the circumstances under which the Rajiv-Farooq Accord was reached. At a time when Governor Jagmohan was busy reorganizing the administration and setting things right to provide a clean and efficient dispensation and restore public confidence which stood shattered, Farooq Abdullah was leaving no stone unturned to befriend Rajiv Gandhi to recapture power. Corrupt politicians and big businessmen also advocated restoration of what they called popular rule believing that under Jagmohan they would not be able to "get their share of loot". The Congress leaders who had lost their say under Jagmohan and who under him were feeling restless also persuaded Rajiv to put the Governor rule to an end. Their machinations and Farooq Abdullah's efforts made Rajiv put Farooq back in the Chief Minister's chair.
The lust for power and office culminated in what is politically known as Rajiv-Farooq Accord of 1987. As expected, the Accord played havoc in Kashmir as it was denounced as unholy and unjust. It was not based on principle. The motives behind the Accord were undoubtedly ulterior. The Congress joined hands with Farooq whom it had dethroned and dubbed anti-national not so long ago and whose activities it regarded as prejudicial for the unity and integrity of India. Farooq, on the other hand, mended his fences with the Congress not because he loved it but because he wanted to destroy whatever little base it still had in the Valley and to recapture power. In fact, both Rajiv and Farooq were afraid of each other and both in their heart of hearts wanted to eliminate each other politically. What they lost sight of in the process was the ugly and rather dangerous consequences of their action in the Valley.
In spite of their small size, their muddled thinking and other weaknesses the part played by certain Congress leaders in Kashmir politics was important. But their identification with the NC in 1987 in the Valley had two results. First, it made them indolent and intellectually sterile. If their political duty did not lie beyond endorsing the NC policy, any further exertion on their part was unnecessary. By becoming uncritical supporters of the NC they lost their former flexibility of manoeuvre. Since they had no wares of their own to put on the market, they paid the price of unpopularity and almost total political extinction as far as their existence in the Valley was concerned. Their own supporters deserted them and held aloof from the Congress weighing other options.
The prophecy of many a political pundit that the Accord would demolish the NC citadel in the Valley proved true. In the assembly elections of the same year, the NC had to face a rough weather. Fully convinced that his party would suffer unprecedented reverses in the Valley,
Farooq resorted to all possible mal-practices throwing all norms and decency to the wind, the worst being the gross misuse of police and administrative machinery to manipulate election results in his favour.
Some activists of the NC who earlier had burnt the Congress office in Srinagar their leaders and indulged in other subversive activities, felt cheated, humiliated by the Accord. Believing that the Accord of a blatant bluff and that Farooq had let down Kashmir, young activists of the NC and some other outfits organized themselves into what was known as the Muslim United Front (MUF). The new alliance was a combination of of the Jamat-e-Islami, the People's Party, theItihad-i-Mussalman, the awami Action Committee, the breakaway group of NC under GM Shah and some youth and student organizations who did not believe in the Indian unity and sovereignty. The rise of the MUF evoked tremdendous response. It was hoped that it would win no less than 15 seatrs in the Valley. But Farooq, who was backed by Rajiv Gandhi, was determined to capture power at whatever cost got the MUF defeated. Its workers were brutally beaten up, insulted and humiliated.
The manipulated victory and humiliation inflicted on theopponents, particularly those belonging to the MUF, changed the course of history of secessionism in Kashmir. If anything, the 1987 elections brought militancy, terrorism in Kashmir. What Mufti said needs to be viewed in this context. |
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