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| Ideologically, NC-Congress alliance is a marriage of inconvenience? | | | Early Times Report
jammu, June 20: It is becoming evident with every passing day that while many other things are part of the common minimum programme (CMP) for the ruling NC-Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, the finality of the state's accession to India is "an unresolved issue" between the NC and the Congress.
As a major centrist party, the Congress holds Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of the country whose accession to India in 1947 by Maharaja Hari Singh is final and settled for good.
"State's accession to the country is final, irrevocable and settled once for all. There is no debate about that. While more political, economic and administrative autonomy to the state can always be discussed, any discussion on the accession is beyond the realm of reality," said a Congress minister in the NC-Congress alliance.
The 'nationalist assertion' by the Congress minister notwithstanding, how has the nitty gritty of the present alliance between the NC and the Congress been worked out when the basic issue of accession remains a matter of debate for the two parties?
The NC leadership including the chief minister, Omar Abdullah continues to assert that the accession to India is 'conditional'. Dr. Mustafa Kamal, former minister, sitting legislator and uncle of Omar Abdullah told reporters recently, "the accession is conditional and those conditions are yet to be fulfilled." The NC's document on autonomy, which has part of the party's election manifesto during the 2008 elections, seeks reversion to the status of 1952 as per the terms and conditions of the 1952 Delhi Agreement.
To counter the PDP's self-rule document, which goes even farther than the autonomy document of the NC in seeking reversion of central laws, withdrawal of All India Services, establishment of a free trade economic zone between the state and the Pakistan occupied part, the NC feels it necessary to keep the bogey of autonomy alive.
It must be recalled that the NC in its autonomy document also seeks re-establishment of the old nomenclature of 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' for the governor and 'Wazir-e-Azam' for the chief minister's post. Ironically, nomenclature was changed during the Congress rule in the state when G.M. Sadiq was the chief minister of the state.
It is quite confusing to understand the CMP of the ruling alliance partners when they have not even been able to reach a consensus on the finality of the state's accession to the country. Ideologically, there is a standoff between the Congress and the NC with regard to the finality of the state's accession to India.
The present alliance in the state came to power after the 2008 elections. It is surprising to believe that during detailed deliberations between the Congress high command and the NC leadership through which the present alliance came into being, the issue of accession was not discussed at all. The divergent stands of the two parties over the legal and ideological issue of state's accession with India has left a huge space open for the separatist leaders to operate in.
The separatist leaders in Kashmir maintain the ruling NC-Congress alliance is mandated by the people only to address issues of Bijli, Pani and Sadak. The fact that the ruling alliance continues to work despite their basic disagreement on the issue of accession proves the separatist point of view on the authenticity of the alliance, or at least, helps create an atmosphere through which the separatist leaders continue to remain relevant despite the declining public support for their causes.
There have always been voices within the NC for the fulfillment of the terms of Indira-Abdullah accord of 1975 which was signed after extensive discussions between the NC and the Congress. Late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah came to power in the state in 1975 when the NC did not have a single seat in the 87-member state legislative assembly. The Sheikh was supported by the Congress which had majority in the state assembly in 1975. A sitting legislator was asked to resign from the Ganderbal assembly constituency so that the Sheikh could fight bye elections from there to become a member of the state assembly.
NC leaders have been accusing the centre (read Congress) of not fulfilling the terms of the 1975 accord. Sheikh's son, Dr. Kamal has said the Congress betrayed the Sheikh by not adhering to the terms of the accord they signed with the Kashmiri leader.
This has thrown up some very unpleasant legal and ideological questions which must be answered by the chief minister and his father unless the people of the state are to believe that the NC-Congress ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir is simply "a marriage of inconvenience" which either of the two partners can break tomorrow when political expediency so demands. |
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