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| Sheikh compromised ideology for personal power | | Why Blame Fotedar? | | Rustam
EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, June 18: Only the other day, spokesperson of National Conference termed senior Congress leader and former Union Minister ML Fotedar as "snake" and accused him of conspiring against Omar Abdullah and the party to which he belongs. The spokesman used these harsh words against Fotedar because he exposed the National Conference and Sheikh Abdullah, saying Abdullah recaptured political power after accepting the supremacy of the Indian Constitution.
To be more precise, Fotedar set the record straight by virtually saying that Sheikh Abdullah compromised his ideology for the sake of personal power and profit. It was this - apart from the Fotedar's assertion that the rule of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a "golden era" - that annoyed the National Conference leadership to the extent that its spokesperson termed Fotedar as "snake." Fotedar reacted very sharply and reciprocated the attack against him with such remarks as "if he and other Congress leaders are snakes, then why the National Conference leaders keep company with snakes."
Anyway, Fotedar cannot be questioned. After all, he was one of the senior Congress leaders who knows the nature of talks between Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's nominee Parthasarthy and Sheikh Abdullah's emissary Afzal Beg, held between 1974 and 1975 leading to what is termed in the political history of the state as Indira-Sheikh Accord, 1975. The 1975 accord was the only accord till date that was signed by the representative of the Government of India and an individual. The National Conference leaders also talk of the "1952 Delhi Agreement" but there exists no such agreement. The 1975 accord brought the deflated Sheikh Abdullah to power but only after he accepted the conditions that he would disband his Plebiscite Front; that he would accept the nomenclatures of Governor and Chief Minister and not insist on such outdated and irrelevant nomenclatures as Sadar-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam; that he would not question the accession of the state with India; that he would not look beyond the confines of the Indian Constitution; that he would accept the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India and Comptroller and Auditor-General of India; that he would not demand restoration of the pre-1953 position or that he would not tinker with any of the Central laws extended to the state after August 9, 1953, when he was dismissed from the post of Wazir-e-Azam and arrested; and that he would not do anything that could widen the gulf between the state and New Delhi.
These were some of the unambiguous conditions the Sheikh very cheerfully accepted. Fotedar simply made this point to put things in perspective and call the National Conference's bluff. The National Conference just cannot contest any of the points Fotedar made while taking on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather. For, what Fotedar said was what had happened and what happened is on record. Have a glance at the terms of the 1975 accord and you would at once say, and without any hesitation, that Sheikh Abdullah compromised his ideology for the sake of loaves and fishes of office.
But Sheikh Abdullah was not the only Kashmiri leader who compromised his age-old position for the sake of power. His successors, too, have acted in a similar fashion. The common Kashmiris also know everything about the kind of politics his successors have been playing. That's the reason the National Conference has become unpopular - unpopular to the extent that it could win only 28 seats in 2002 and an equal number of seats in 2008 out of a total of 87 assembly seats. Hitherto, it used to sweep the polls. The very fact that it has to share power today with the Congress is a proof that the people of Kashmir do not repose confidence in the National Conference leadership to the extent they used to repose between 1977 and 1996. This is the stark reality and the National Conference must accept it. It's no use beating about the bush or speaking something ridiculous and baseless. |
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