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| Signs of maturity in NC | | | National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah seems to have politically matured. This is evident by the way he has stopped indulging in Pakistan bashing which used to be his usual refrain after he and his National Conference were voted to power in 1996.And that Pakistan bashing may have been one of the factors responsible for the poor show of the National Conference in 2002 election. The National Conference score in 2002 election was 28 against 58 in 1996.Even after having lost power in 2002 Farooq continued to oppose any dialogue with Pakistan and with the separatists in Kashmir. However, he and his party leaders realized that the PDP, then led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had been able to dislodge a 70-year old National Conference because of the Mufti's emphasis on sustained India-Pakistan dialogue. The Mufti had been also a votary of talks between the Kashmiri separatists and Delhi Abdullahs have learnt the art of keeping in view the mood of the people in the valley. When one says that Farooq and his son, Omar Abdullah, have started showing signs of maturity they refer to the series of statements the father and his son have made in recent weeks. Farooq has supported resumption of Indo-Pakistan dialogue for resolving the bilateral problems, including the Kashmir issue. His son too has favoured not only the resumption of Delhi-Islamabad talks but has made a plea for the repeal of the Armed Forces(special powers) Act. Farooq Abdullah has gone a step closer to the PDP, atleast ideologically, when he has said that if the Police perform their duties honestly in tackling law and order problem troops could be withdrawn from within the Kashmir valley. This is the major demand of the PDP and the separatists. Indications are that Farooq and his party leaders have learnt by now that Pakistan bashing can win them more critics in Kashmir than friends. Years ago Farooq used to be of the opinion that accession of the state with India was final and there was no need for discussing the issue with Pakistan. He used to say that if there was any Kashmir issue. it could be settled once greater autonomy was restored to Jammu and Kashmir. It was this very belief that motivated the National Conference to get the autonomy resolution adopted in the state legislature. That the National Conference leadership sees in the PDP its real political foe is evident from the way the National Conference leadership is indirectly endorsing and adopting the policies which have been enunciated by the PDP leadership. There was time when the NC leadership was not in favour of demilitarisation and the repeal of the AFSPA but now it wants the draconian law to go. It wants Army to be withdrawn from the civilian areas. Well one may say that the NC leadership has modified its policy on the issue in the context of the improvement in the security scenario in the state. It may be so but essentially it does not want to go against the public mood. If it goes against the peoples’ mood it may be a loser.
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