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| In J&K, New Delhi’s role is welcome but meddling an anathema | | F L A S H B A C K 09-08-1953 | |
Early Times Special
Jammu, August 8: There are days important to the histories and identities of the nations and peoples –August 9 is perhaps one such important day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir which has been interpreted in as many connotations as it suited events and peoples over past five decades.
On this day, in 1953, the then Prime Minister (as Chief Minister was known until 1965) of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, was dismissed from his post and arrested. He remained in jail for almost 11 years. During this period, he was a free person for only four months in 1958.
The Sher-i-Kashmir could become the chief minister only in 1975 after he accepted the Center’s terms. The rehabilitation was effected through the Indira-Sheikh accord negotiated by Parthasarthy and Mirza Afzal Beg, a confidante of the Sheikh.
The orders for Sheikh’s arrest were issued by Sadr-i-Riyasat Karan Singh, apparently because Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was about to stage a coup by declaring the state to be independent. Or worse still, the allegation against Sheikh was that he was working towards the merger of the state with Pakistan.
A perusal of historical records of those times reveals that these allegations were far-fetched. The Sheikh wanted special status for J&K, as enunciated in Naya Kashmir document, which is the vision statement of his party, the National Conference. This special status was a degree of autonomy almost bordering on independence but just a little short of it.
It would be pertinent to remember here that when Ghulam Mohiuddin Karra spoke in Pakistan’s favour openly, the Sheikh, as Prime Minister of J&K, ordered his arrest. As such, it becomes difficult to believe that Sheikh himself was secretly treading the path being followed by Karra.
We can say it with certainty now, 56 years later, that Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, knew about the Sheikh’s impending arrest. However, when the event actually took place, an impression was created that Pandit Nehru was not a party to the decision.
Contrary to this impression, the Central Government headed by Pandit Nehru had orchestrated all the events leading up to Sheikh’s arrest. Only he did not want to take responsibility for the actions openly and wanted the Kashmiri leaders, Sheikh’s supporters turned betrayers, to own up the action.
Prior to that, Sheikh and Pandit Nehru had remained steadfast friends for almost two decades. At one time, Pandit Nehru himself was arrested by the troops of Maharaja Hari Singh at Kohala bridge, now in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, as he was entering the state for defending Sheikh in a court case.
As Sheikh’s period of incarceration grew from months into years, Pandit Nehru realized that he had perhaps been misled about Sheikh’s intentions. By 1964, Pandit Nehru was willing to bring Sheikh back into the forefront and sent him as an emissary to Pakistan.
The Sheikh’s brief was to meet the Pakistani leadership and try to resolve the impasse on J&K. It was not to be as Pandit Nehru died while Sheikh was still in Pakistan. The history of the sub-continent, with respect to the bitterness between India and Pakistan over J&K, would perhaps have been different had Sheikh’s mission succeeded.
It was also likely that had Pandit Nehru lived longer, the Sheikh would have got back the power in J&K much before 1975. The Pakistani raids into the territory of J&K, leading to the full scale war of 1965, did not help matters.
Between 1953 and 1975, the rulers of J&K, whether it was Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq or Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed or Mir Qasim, could never come out of the shadow of Sheikh. They were always considered ``Delhi’s men’’ doing the bidding of the Delhi durbar, unlike the Sheikh who was believed to be his own man.
Sheikh also lost some of his aura when he reached a compromise with Indira Gandhi in 1975. However, the masses in J&K, particularly the Kashmir Valley, continued to follow him in hordes as they believed him to be ``independent’’ in his thoughts and actions.
The years after Sheikh’s death on September 8, 1982, have seen turbulent times in J&K. The bitter wrangling between India and Pakistan on the state continues with a final settlement far from near.
Even today, some people in the coterie in Delhi durbar that runs the affairs of J&K do not know or understand the finer nuances of state’s politics. Yet, they have a disproportionate say in its day-to-day running.
The Centre, while being supportive of the State Government headed by the Chief Minister, Mr Omar Abdullah, should draw the right lessons from the past. It would be much better for it to keep a hands-off approach on issues pertaining to the state and definitely stay away from being meddlesome.
It was the Centre’s meddling in the affairs of the J&K in 1984 which led to Farooq Abdullah being toppled by G M Shah. Again, it is widely believed that it was with the Centre’s blessings that the 1987 elections were rigged.
Given this, while the Centre’s support is considered welcome in J&K, an impression that it is interfering can lead to alienation.
Sheikh was wronged by the Centre, so was Farooq Abdullah. Let Omar, the third generation scion of the Abdullah family, who leads the state now, be spared the travails his elders had to pass through. For peace and prosperity in the state
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