| Omar crossing the line, interfering in foreign policy-related issues | | Invitation to Nawaz Sharif | | Neha
JAMMU, May 22: The decision of New Delhi to invite the SAARC heads of state and Government, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi has delighted the Kashmiri leaders, separatist and the so-called mainstream leaders. They, including the self-styled chairman of APHC-M Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and NC working president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, whose party was decimated by the PDP in Kashmir valley in the just-held Lok Sabha election, on Wednesday spoke in one voice and hailed the decision of the Central Government. It was a good beginning, they said, adding that this gesture will go a long way in resolving the long-pending Kashmir issue.
One could understand the reasons behind what Mirwaiz did to identify himself with Pakistan or by acting as a spokesperson of Mian Nawaz Sharif. After all, he has all through advocated the Pakistani cause in his bid to remain in the good books of the Pakistani establishment, political and military, and earn money, as also to keep his constituency in the Jamia Masjid area in Srinagar in good humour. But more than that, he has always spoken the Pakistani language and talked about the so-called right to self-determination completely overlooking the fact that Kashmir is a small part of the State of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and Jammu and Ladakh have nothing to do with the Kashmiri leadership and what they have been fighting for since years.
But why should Omar Abdullah, who is head of the Government in the state and morally, politically and constitutionally bound to defend the paramount national interests and work in tandem with New Delhi to check and eliminate the fissiparous tendencies, speak the language of Mirwaiz and others of his ilk. Obviously, he crossed the line and overstepped his constitutional authority by saying what he said about the invite to Mian Nawaz Sharif. He has no authority to interfere in the country's foreign policy-related issues and if he feels that such actions would help him win back the trust of the Kashmiri people and snatch the political space the NC lost to the PDP over the period, then it can be said that he is living in a world of the past. Such interferences will not help him and his thoroughly unpopular party. If he really wishes to conciliate the alienated Kashmiri people, he has no other option but to reduce the trust deficit and focus on issues of governance. As for the foreign policy-related issues, it is for New Delhi to move forward taking into consideration its long term geo-political and economic interests. Similarly, as for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, they are legitimately Indian and no power on earth can snatch even an inch of Indian land in this state or any other Indian state. |
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