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| Mustafa Kamaal’s tirade against New Delhi misplaced, motivated | | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Jul 14: It would be only desirable to reflect on National Conference leader Mustafa Kamaal’s biased, motivated and ill-designed formulations that do not represent the true picture of facts and that provoke the people of Jammu province and the Punjabi Muslims (read Pathowari-speaking and ethnically non-Kashmiri Muslims who inhabit Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Poonch-Rajouri belt in Jammu province and the erstwhile Kupwara and Baramulla districts in Kashmir province, who have been suffering since 1947 for the simple reason that the NC leadership never considered them part and parcel of the state destined to enjoy rights a particular Kashmir-based sect has been enjoying as the state's ruling class.
Some of his highly provocative and motivated formulations are (I) "New Delhi had chronically perceived NC as a threat to nationalism and, therefore, strengthened militants and Kashmiri separatists only to uproot this party of sub-national aspiration"; (II) "Punjabi Muslims and Hindu Dogras have been taking revenge of Sheikh Abdullah's struggle from the Kashmiris through Islamabad and New Delhi, respectively, since 1947 as the charismatic NC founder had permanently shut the shop of their 100-year-long monopoly and empowered the Kashmiris"; (III) "Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah had ended 100-year-long monopoly of the Punjabi Muslims and the minority community (Dogras of Jammu) in 1947, 'but one side went to Pakistan and another sided with Delhi and both began taking revenge of Sheikh Sahab's struggle (of empowering the Kashmiri)" and "both have consensus on one thing: Let the Kashmiris not die of hunger but let them never have peace"; (IV) "NC categorically rejected Jinnah's 2-nation theory and did never believe in Azadi or accession to Pakistan"; (V) "because of NC's history and sub-national aspiration, successive governments in New Delhi pursued the policy of weakening NC and they left no stone unturned in uprooting a party that fairly and genuinely represented the people of this state"; and "Government of India patronized, funded, protected and glamorized the Valley's militants and separatist leaders, accorded to them warm receptions and also organized their foreign tours with state facilitation under a sinister plan."
First formulation: Mustafa Kamaal says, "New Delhi had chronically perceived NC as a threat to nationalism." He is wrong. He is wrong because it was because of New Delhi that the NC came to the state's center-stage. Had New Delhi been not generous towards the father and founder of NC Sheikh Abdullah, neither he nor any of his family members would have ever become the ruler of the state. He should have been grateful to New Delhi that the latter handed over the state power to the Sheikh in October 1947 and again in 1975, when none of the members of the Legislative Assembly belonged to his NC.
New Delhi took these steps much against the wishes of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. Jammu was all the more angry because it was the people of Jammu who had ruled over Kashmir for full; 101 years (1846-1947) because of the Treaty of Amritsar under which Kashmir became part of the Jammu kingdom and not the vice versa.
Similarly, Mustafa Kamaal should have expressed gratitude to New Delhi for the reason that it was the latter that played the most crucial role in their elevation to the office of Chief Minister. It needs to be noted that both the Sheikh and Dr Farooq Abdullah repeatedly cultivated New Delhi in order to enjoy loaves and fishes of office and New Delhi obliged them. The story of the present Chief Minister is no different. That he is still there as Chief Minister despite what happened in Kashmir during the past about three weeks is yet another example that indicates the extent to which New Delhi has been favourably inclined towards the Abdullah dynasty and the NC.
It is, however, true that New Delhi (read Congress Government) did dismiss Sheikh Abdullah from the position of Wazir-e-Azam on August 9, 1953 and again in 1977. But it is also true that New Delhi took these extreme steps because the activities of Sheikh Abdullah constituted a threat to the national security and the country's unity and integrity, as also to the state's already rather sensitive socio-religious and political equilibrium. The policies the Sheikh pursued after becoming Wazir-e-Azam in 1947 and Chief Minister in 1977 did constitute a threat to the unity and integrity of India, besides posing a live challenge to the cardinal principles of democracy and secularism. He did all that he could to create an extreme form of hatred between the Kashmiri Muslims, particularly the Kashmiri-speaking Sunni Muslims, from the national mainstream and jeopardize the legitimate political and economic rights of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. In fact, he worked to the extent possible to create an impression in and outside India that the Kashmiri Muslims were a race apart and that there was a real danger to the distinct identity of Kashmir. (To be continued)
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