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| Farooq Abdhullah's volta face | | EDITORIAL | |
The former Chief Minister and NC patron Farooq Abdullah's suggestion
that Indian government should hold talks with Hizbul Mujahadin Chief
and Supreme Commander of United Jihad Council, Salahudin in some
foreign country other than Pakistan is far fetched and amusing rather
ridiculous. It betrays the utter frustration on the part of the NC
leader, who for last 4 years has been waiting on his wings to come
back to power in the state, after Congress and the Central Government
are forced to dump Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's party PDP, with wedge
between the Congress and PDP widening, as per the calculations or
wishful thinking of the former Chief Minister and some of his party
colleagues. For quite some time, after the change of guard in the
state government, with Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad replacing
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the Chief Minister, Abdhulla had been hoping
against hope that soon Congress will come round to seek the support of
National Conference for running the government in the state, with the
belief that PDP is proving as liability to the Congress, because of
pro secessionist and militant friendly outbursts and utterances of PDP
leaders, particularly of the party president and former Chief
Minister's daughter, Mehbooba Mufti. Farooq Abdhulla was going all out
of way to extend support to the Azad government and adopting a policy
of not criticizing even the glaring shortcomings and failures of the
Congress led coalition government in the state. If at all he would
raise his voice against any action of the government, it was confined
to the departments held by PDP ministers. Sparing Azad and other
Congress ministers. NC's target of attack for quite some time was the
PDP leaders. His over friendly overtures towards Azad and Congress led
to some differences within his own party and with his son and NC
president Omer Farooq, the later being comparatively critical of the
Azad led government as well as of the role of Congress party. At the
same time Farooq Abdhulla went all out to mend fences with the Union
Government and the Congress high command, in order to come to their
good books and win their confidence. Earlier as Chief Minister of the
state between 2002 and 2006 Farooq and his government was deadly
opposed to the separatists and the militants. He would rather grudge
soft pedaling by the Center towards the secessionists as well as not
adopting hot options to liquidate the terrorists. He even pleaded for
India adopting the policy of hot pursuit of the terrorists across the
border and LOC and destroying the terrorist training camps in Pakistan
and POK. Now after his hope to come back to power or any tie up of his
party with the Congress has receded, with Sonia Gandhi and other
Central Congress leaders conveying an impression of Congress and PDP
coalition to continue, despites some irritants, Farooq has taken a 180
degree U-turn. In the process he is now running the race with PDP in
mending fences with the secessionists as well as the militants. Hardly
any dividing line is left between the NC, PDP and the Hurriyat
Conference. The former two parties are in fact trying to prove
themselves as the B teams of the Hurriyat.
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