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Soz snubs Omar for ignoring Congress, Omar says Chidambaram briefed | Revoking AFSPA | | Rustam JAMMU, Oct 28: Is Omar Abdullah on his way out? If the bitter public spat between the JKPCC chief, Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz, and the NC leader and Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, over the sensitive issue of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is to be given any credence, then the answer is in the affirmative. Prof Soz was so upset over the Omar's style of working, as also over his negative attitude towards the JKPCC that he on Thursday openly challenged Omar Abdullah to revoke the AFSPA before the civil secretariat reopens in Jammu in the first week of November. His attack on Omar was scathing. It could be seen from his statement that "Omar is not standing on a strong ground" and that "he could not take decisions unilaterally on such sensitive issues as the AFSPA". "We are part of the coalition government; he cannot take any decision unilaterally," was the upshot of his whole attack on Omar Abdullah. No one can question Prof Soz's stand, which could be legitimately described as a positive stand taking into account the fact that the revocation of the AFSPA at this critical stage has potential of enabling Pakistani-sponsored deadly terrorists to intensify anti-India activities in the state and negating the splendid work the Army and paramilitary forces have done over the years in Kashmir after making supreme sacrifices. Prof Soz's stand is national and rational and it needs to be appreciated by one and all. In fact, he has already evoked a very positive response from all responsible quarters. This is significant. But what perhaps was even more significant was the support Prof Soz got from Mohan Prakash, in-charge of Congress affairs in Jammu and Kashmir. His yesterday's New Delhi statement that Omar Abdullah just cannot take the Congress party for a ride; that the "Congress is an equal partner"; and that "there has to be close coordination between the coalition partners" clearly indicated a shift in the stand of the central leadership on Omar Abdullah. Likewise, what was also significant was the support Mohan Prakash got from another senior party functionary in the AICC. He told media persons that the "time has come to review the performance of the alliance government". "In January 2009, when Congress party decided to support Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister, party's main trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee had suggested taking a periodic review of the performance of the government, while committing to support it for full six years. It was decided that this support would be extended on the basis of performance…Now the time for periodic review of the functioning has come," he, in fact, said. What Mohan Prakash and another senior AICC functionary said was self-explanatory and indicated the direction the Congress party is heading towards slowly but surely. Prof Soz's blistering attack on Omar Abdullah and the fullest possible support he got from the AICC functionaries, coupled with a meeting of senior JKPCC functionaries in Jammu in which Omar Abdullah's uncle Mustafa Kamal was censured for his outrageous remarks against the Army, all indicate a radical change in the attitude of the Congress towards Omar Abdullah and the NC. Leave aside what Taj Mohi-ud-Din, a Congress minister in the Omar Abdullah-led government, said about the Chief Minister. For, he is known for his pro-Omar and pro-NC views. Taj said "he was consulted by the Chief Minister". Does Taj consider himself above the party president? Perhaps, yes. The cornered and under-attack Omar Abdullah would have saved the situation by displaying political maturity. But he thought otherwise. Instead of bridging the gulf, he widened it further by making an immature statement. Reacting to the Prof Soz's well-meaning critical remarks, Omar Abdullah humiliated and ridiculed the JKCC chief saying that he had kept Union Home Minister P Chidambaram "in the loop"; that he had kept him fully aware of what he had already done and what were his future plans; and that there was no need for him to discuss the issue with Prof Soz. Omar Abdullah, in fact, told Prof Soz that he was not ruling the state with the help of the Congress; he was ruling the state in collaboration with the Union Home Minister. The battle-lines between Omar Abdullah and Prof Soz, who is being ably backed by important AICC functionaries, it seems, are drawn. It is Omar Abdullah who is at the receiving end. He had declared with much fanfare that the AFSPA would be withdrawn from certain districts before the Durbar reopens in the winter capital. This is not going to happen because the Congress will not allow Omar Abdullah to do what he wants to do unilaterally considering the dangerous ramifications of the Chief Minister's controversial and unwarranted move. Since it is not going to happen, Omar Abdullah would lose his face in the Kashmir Valley, the core constituency of the NC whose support-base started shrinking at a rapid pace after 1996. It can be said that the Congress is systematically creating an environment that would ensure the collapse of the Omar Abdullah government and rise of the Congress-led government. And, the sooner it happens, the better for the state and the nation. The nation just afford political instability in the sensitive Jammu and Kashmir and political instability would be there in the state till the time the NC remains entrenched in the state's corridors of power. |
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