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| Omar trying to kill three birds with one stone | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 28: By raking up the issue of repeal of AFSPA from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, is trying to kill two birds with one stone. Possibly, he aims at hitting three birds with one stone.
It is all a game of politics of vote bank and hence he is ready to measure muscles not only with the opposition but with the Congress that shares power with his National Conference in the state. By demonstrating his eagerness to do away with DAA and the AFSPA, Omar Abdullah plans to pull the rug under the PDP feet.
He feels upset over the way the PDP has grown in size and strength in the state, especially in the Kashmir valley. He has fears that by the time the schedule for the next Assembly election is announced the PDP my have assumed sharper and bigger teeth than it has at present for biting and bleeding the NC in the valley which the party, led by Farooq Abdullah, believes to be its stronghold.
PDP has been campaigning in favour of withdrawal of AFSPA and troops from within the civilian areas for the last several years. Omar has fears that the campaign against enforcement of he AFSPA and against the presence of troops within the civilian areas in the state has given a chance for the PDP to enlarge areas of its influence in the valley. Hence to prevent the PDP from spreading its tentacles Omar has lent full weight to his AFSPA repeal demand.
Next bird that he wants to kill is to erode the strength, whatever it has; of the Congress in the Kashmir valley. With Omar adopting tough postures on his plan of withdrawing the AFSPA the Chief Minister has placed the Congress in an embarrassing situation. First the Congress legislators from the valley are with the Chief Minister as far as his demand for withdrawal of AFSPA is concerned.
It is the outcome of politics for local consumption. These legislators were with the Chief Minister when he, indirectly, toyed with the idea of the state legislature adopting a resolution favouring clemency for Afzal Guru. Had not the Congress high command intervened Omar would have seen to it that the resolution, moved by independent MLA, Er Abdul Rashid, was adopted by the Assembly in its autumn session.
And if the state unit of the Congress vehemently supported Omar's demand for lifting of AFSPA it will suffer major erosion in the Jammu region, which is traditionally its strong area. Hence, state unit of the Congress finds itself between the devil and the deep sea.
The bird number three Omar wishes to kill is to force the Congress high command to think twice before it accepted the demand of its state unit for change of guard in Jammu and Kashmir. By repeating his plan of lifting the AFSPA Omar wants to make himself indispensable for New Delhi when he knows that his demand, when implemented, would give a chance to the National Conference to regain its ground that it has lost as a result of misgovernance during the last three years.
Omar would have not been emboldened to be a sole policy maker had not there been division of opinion between the Minister of Defence and the Union Home Minister. The former is opposed to unilateral lifting of AFSPA and the latter has been, during the last one year, in favour of its withdrawal.
Chief Minister seems to be under no restrictions and compulsions of the coalition politics because he is aware of the growing tussle between the dissidents and the loyalist in the state unit of the Congress. This way he feels hardly any compulsion for consulting the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir while framing his policy which has a direct bearing on the state's political and security scenario. |
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