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| A yesteryears’ votary of hot pursuits, Farooq becoming conduit of dialogue | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 11 :-National Conference President and Union Minister for Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, seems to have experienced a major transformation in his outlook and ideas. Till 2000 he was a staunch opponent of any talks with Pakistan and with the Kashmiri separatists. At that stage his stand was that Delhi should not talk to Islamabad till Pakistan stopped exporting terrorism to India, especially to Jammu and Kashmir. He favoured that talks should be held only after Delhi felt satisfied that Pakistan had taken in hand adequate measures for dismantling the terror infrastructure that existed across the border.
He would go a step further. He is on record to have stated that the existing LOC be converted into a permanent border on the plea that this was the only viable solution to the Kashmir issue. However, of late he seems to have modified his earlier ideas and stand. Is this change based on conviction or political convenience? Possibly both. He has now realized that resumption of the composite dialogue and talks with the Kashmiri separatist could resolve the ticklish Kashmir issue. It is out of this belief that during the last couple of months he has been in the forefront of those who want the separatists to accept the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's offer for dialogue.
Farooq is seen pleading for the resumption of centre- separatist talks even when both hardliners, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and the moderates, led by Molvi Umar Farooq, have been critical of Farooq and his son Omar Abdullah, who, as Chief Minister, too has called for the resumption of talks with the separatists. At one stage even Omar Abdullah too was not highly in favour of talks with Pakistan and between Delhi and the Kashmiri separatists. Well reports indicate that Umar Farooq has been forced to demonstrate lack of haste in accepting the offer for dialogue. He has not pronounced his excitement because of the stout opposition to the bilateral talks from Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Two factors are said to have motivated Farooq and Omar to change their ideas and views on Delhi-Islamabad and Delhi-separatists talks. First being their keeness to further strengthen the National Conference basis which had been eroded after the birth of the PDP. There is a feeling among senior National Conference leaders that pronounced anti-Pakistan and anti-separatists stand taken by Farooq Abdullah and later by Omar Abdullah had proved an Achiles heel for the National Conference. The PDP took advantage from it by remaining consistent supporter for Indo-Pak and Delhi-separatists talks. The result was that since 2002 Assembly election the National Confer ence has not been able to win absolute majority in the Assembly.
Secondly, National Conference heads the coalition Government. As such both Farooq and Omar do not want to repeat the pre-2000 stand which could derail peace. They believe that during the last seven years political and security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir has experienced marked improvement and if they again resorted to Pakistan bashing it could provoke separatists, especially the Tehrik Hurriyat Confer ence leadership to engi8neer mass protests. Hence Farooq and Omar have been pleading for the resumption of the composite dialogue and the talks between the separatists and Delhi. |
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