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| Maintaining ambiguity over finality of accession | | | Yash Bhasin | 6/27/2011 9:50:28 PM |
| (In-box To suit expediency of situation and their political
convenience NC and Congress or calculatedly maintaining ambiguity over
their stand on finality of J&K’s accession with India)
Coming as it does on the heels of Union Home Minister, P.Chidambaran
ruling out rotational Chief Minister of the NC—Congress coalition Govt
in the state, thus applying seal of finality for the Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah to head the J&K Govt for full six years, Omar Abdullah’s
clarification that he has never disputed the finality of J&K’s
accession with India, the impression has gone around that Omar has
taken the U turn as a quid pro quo to the Centre and the Congress
reaffirming their earlier decision of full six year turn for Omar as
Chief Minister. P.C, on conclusion of his three day visit to Kashmir,
had also appreciated the stewardship of the state Govt by Omar by
asserting that the Congress party and the Central Govt were fully
satisfied with his performance and handling of the situation in J&K.
The successful conduct of Panchyat elections, with very high turn out
of the electorates and by and large its peaceful accomplishment was
sited as a feather in the young CM’s cap.
The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah had stirred the hornet’s nest by
stating in the state assembly on October 6 last year that J&K’s
accession with India was not final and absolute, but was based on
certain conditions and that J&K had not merged with India as was the
case with other princely states like Hyderabad and Junagarh. These
observations by the Chief Minister had set in a storm, with BJP and
other integrationist forces in Jammu and in the country comparing this
statement by Omar, with those of his late grandfather, whose anti
India outbursts and expressing doubts over the feasibility of J&K’s
accession with India had led to dismissal of his Govt and his arrest
in August 1953.
Omar had reiterated his statement about accession being conditional
and not absolute many times after that. P .Chidambaram and some other
Central Congress leaders, including ministers in the UPA GOVT had
found nothing wrong in these statements, turning the same as harmless.
It may be recalled that Omar Abdullah made the controversial statement
in the state assembly in October last year, when the situation in
Kashmir was highly volatile with anti India hysteria at its high, in
the wake of violent protests and police action, resulting into the
killings of 112 youth in clashes between the stone pelting youth and
the police resorting to Lathi charge, tear smoke shelling and firing.
Even the Central interlocutors on J&K appointed little before that
time, to suggest the road map to the Kashmir solution, had found
nothing wrong in the statements of Omar Abdullah. The statements were
virtual endorsement of the stand taken by the separatists for a long,
calling Kashmir as a disputed territory and demanding its permanent
solution. Both factions of Hurriyat Conference had hailed Omar’s
statement and described the same as vindication of their declared
stand. “The National Conference has long last realised and admitted
the reality”, both factions of Hurriyat Conference had stated.
Reacting to the latest statement of Omar Abdullah that he has never
questioned the finality of state’s accession with India, the hard line
separatist leader Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani has called it a Volta-face,
taken by the Chief Minister under pressure from the Centre and aiming
at appeasing the latter, to secure his position as Chief Minister.
However, the U turn taken by the Chief Minister in the matter confirms
the charge recently levelled by the senior Congress leader Makhan Lal
Fotedar that National Conference changes its colours like a chameleon,
to suit its political expediency. It also provides another proof to
the often levelled allegation of Kashmiri political leaders projecting
themselves as Indian Nationalists when in power and their remaining in
power is insured, but becoming anti Indian when out of power and when
they find insecure in power.
The pro separatist statements are made to appease and woo the
separatist mine set of majority of Kashmiri Muslims and it is perhaps
for this reason that Omar made the controversial statement in the
State assembly last year, to defuse anti Govt and anti NC atmosphere,
along with anti India hysteria at its height in Kashmir at that time.
This statement of Omar and latter its endorsement by other National
Conference leaders, including Union Minister, Farooq Abdullah, Mustafa
Kamal in the Abdullah family and NC MP Mehboob Beigh and their defence
by the central Congress leaders including some Union Ministers did
have some impact in defusing the atmosphere of violence in Kashmir.
But the impact of statements to this effect had quite a reverse impact
in Jammu and Ladakh regions of the State and the country as a whole.
The Congress party and the UPA Govt found themselves in defensive, in
the face of attacks on them by the BJP and other integrationists,
charging the former of having soft line towards the separatist
elements and trends in Kashmir.
This summer, when Kashmir has witnessed total normalcy with summer
unrest of last three years left far behind, there are reasons to
believe that the Congress leadership has advised Omar Abdullah to now
bail out them at the National level as a quid pro quo for their baling
him out, his Govt and the NC last year by supporting his observations
over accession issue.
But the million dollar question is weather the belief in finality of
J&K’s accession with India is subject to compromise, to suit
expediency and political convenience at different times. By doing a
damage control exercise for the congress party in country, by stating
that he has never disputed the finality of accession, Omar has with
the same breath observed that holding of successful Panchyat
elections, is not related to the solution of J&K’s political future,
which needs be settled permanently. He has also laid stress on
including solution of Kashmir issue in the on going Indo-Pak talks in
saying so Omar has at the same time, given some margin and space to
the Kashmiri separatists, thus trying to hold a balance between his
latest assertion about the finality of accession, the line that
appeals the people at large in the country, where his coalition
partner, the Congress has its constituency and the Kashmir problem yet
remains to be solved, which is aimed at nursing the separatist mindset
of majority of Kashmiries, who constitute the core constituency of his
National Conference.
These contradictory stands may suit the political expediency of the NC
and the Congress. But the question is dose calculatedly maintaining
ambiguity over the basic issue of J&K’s accession is in the national
interest in the long run? Dose not it weakens national unity and
integration and prolongs the uncertainty? At the same time this
ambiguity over finality of accession weakens India’s case
internationally.
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