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| Enough is enough: Betrayed CM must act now | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 12: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah permitted the unscrupulous, defeated, marginalized and out-on-the-limb Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik to lead a march to the Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Saturday. Though the security agencies were not for granting permission, the Chief Minister overruled their objections and permitted the separatists to organize the march. The Chief Minister reportedly took this decision after being assured by the Mirwaiz's "close aide" that the proposed march would be "peaceful." He should not have trusted the Mirwaiz and Malik because they were in search of an opportunity that they could use to indulge in an extreme form of competitive communalism and separatism and establish they were no different from Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The Chief Minister's permission provided them with what could be termed as a god-sent opportunity. They wanted to make a full use of it and they did that leaving the Chief Minister chaffing and cursing himself.
There is no doubt whatever that both the Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik had been feeling isolated and marginalized since days because of the kind of activities Geelani indulged in to derail everything in Kashmir and tell everyone in the Valley that he alone was the chief factor in the Kashmir's situation and that if peace was to return to the Valley, the authorities in New Delhi had to concede his demands, talk to him on his terms and resolve the so-called Kashmir issue. It was he, and not the Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik, who had been calling the shots and dictating terms to the state government, which for all practical purposes obliged him for reasons best known to it. The activities of Geelani had left the likes of the Mirwaiz frustrated.
But more than that, the Chief Minister's dumb-founding statement that "Geelani was an important factor" had further added to the frustration of the already rather frustrated Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik. The Chief Minister's statement was beyond comprehension considering the fact that only a couple of days before his father and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah had castigated Geelani and publicly declared that he didn't know him" and "he didn't recognize him."
That the Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik would foment trouble and instigate their followers to indulge in arson and violence on an unprecedented scale was a foregone conclusion. They wanted to do something more radical to re-establish their authority and prove their relevance and they did that using all conceivable and foul means, including betrayal of trust.
The Chief Minister now says that the Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik have "betrayed" him by instigating violence. It is of no use. The damage has been done. Property worth crores of rupees has been burnt down. The authority of the state has been eroded. The Chief Minister's own credibility has been further eroded. A number of government buildings and vehicles have been set ablaze.
There is no need for the Chief Minister to express regret or lament what happened in Srinagar on the day of Eid. It is time for him to sit up and retrospect. It is time for him to look back and find if what he has been doing since January 5, 2009 has helped him in any way and helped him in establishing his authority in the Kashmir Valley. If he undertakes such an exercise, he would at once come to the conclusion that his actions and speeches have only added to his woes and difficulties and rendered him ineffective and unreal for all practical purposes. Hence, it is time for him to review his whole policy towards Kashmir and the Geelanis, the Mirwaizs and the Maliks. It is time for him to stop attacking the Armed Forces Special powers Act (AFSPA), the Army and the Indian institutions and discarding his Kashmir-is-a-political-problem formulation. For, this formulation has directly strengthened the Kashmiri extremists.
In fact, it is time for the Chief Minister to call a spade a spade, publicly acknowledge that what has been happening in Kashmir is the immediate fall-out of the politics of communalism being taken recourse to by the Kashmiri leaders of all hues and act firmly and resolutely to restore law and order in the Kashmir Valley using all available means. He would do well to remember that India is a boon and not a curse and that the politics of communalism, separatism and autonomy would not lead the Kashmiri Muslims anywhere. This kind of politics would only destroy them socially, politically, culturally and economically. It has already harmed them to a considerable extent.
In conclusion, it can be said that it is time for Omar Abdullah to follow in the footsteps of his father and make it loud and clear that Kashmir was, is and shall ever remain an integral part of India and that the future of Kashmiri Muslims is secure only in secular and democratic India and not in the type of dispensation the likes of Geelani, the Mirwaiz and Malik have been strive to achieve outside the Indian Constitution or even outside India. Even otherwise, the Chief Minister needs to review his whole policy taking into consideration the fact that he could not offer Namaz on the day of Eid at Hazratbal. It is something that should keep him awake at night. It needs to be noted that it is for the first time that the Chief Minister could not dare to visit the Hazratbal Shrine to offer Namaz. Hazratbal area was not-so-long-ago a very strong bastion of the National Conference. Say enough is enough and act. It is in the interest of the people as well as his own interest. He is Chief Minister and he should establish that he is the Chief Minister. |
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