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| Chidambaram's statement no cause for NC to cheer | | Changing Stance on AFSPA | | Rustam
JAMMU, Nov 1: The NC leadership appears visibly happy over what Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said yesterday in New Delhi while presenting a monthly report of his ministry. Chidambaram said there was "nothing unusual or new if chief minister (Omar Abdullah) of the state wants to quicken the process of review of the AFSPA" and added "there was nothing wrong with that". He also said that the "centre expects chief minister Omar Abdullah to come back after cabinet review" and maintained that the "review of application of the AFSPA in the state was part of an eight-point agenda programme decided by the Cabinet Committee of Security on September 25 last year for restoration of normalcy in the state and I was a party to it".
What Chidambaram said was not something special. He only made a statement of fact. If the NC leadership feels that it has scored a point, then it can be said without any hesitation that it continues to live in a world of the past. Chidambaram's statement nowhere gave a veto power to the chief minister, who is putting in all that he has to save his chair and honour.
Moreover, it was not the same Chidambaram who in October 2009 had emphatically said in Srinagar that "Kashmir has a unique history, unique geography and unique problem that needs a unique solution". He was also not the same Chidambaram who a few months later had said that the "solutions applicable to other parts of the country cannot be replicated in Kashmir because Kashmir is a different case". Similarly, it was not the same Chidambaram who only on October 11 this year told Omar Abdullah to go back to Kashmir and do whatever he wanted to ensure revocation of the AFSPA. It was a mellowed down Chidambaram and one can understand his limitations. His alleged involvement in the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam and the manner in which the pro-active Supreme Court of India is monitoring the whole case and the fact that Madras High Court is hearing an election petition against him have considerably weakened his position. Besides, the Union Finance Minister Pranabh Mukharjee is there in the Union Council of Ministers and J Jayalalithha to upset the Chidambaram's applecart. And, don't ignore Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithha and Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy who are after the Chidambaram's head. They will not allow Chidambaram to go scot-free. They would all they could to sink Chidambaram's vassal.
The truth, in short, is that Chidambaram was not at all assertive when he made a statement on the AFSPA, as also on Omar Abdullah did. His was a general statement that has been taken by the NC leadership to mean a vindication of their stand on the issue. That Chidambaram was not assertive at all became quite clear when he coupled his statement on the AFSPA with the statement that "if the Congress, an ally of the coalition government in the state, desire more consultations that is perfectly understandable". "There could be more consultations in the Cabinet too. In a democracy, we can have consultations any number of times," he also said.
The meaning of what Chidambaram said was loud and clear: The NC doesn't have the veto power; if it wants to withdraw the AFSPA even from certain selected areas, it has to take on board the Congress party. Omar Abdullah had in February this year arrogantly declared that it was the state government that had the veto power and that he would not only demilitarize the entire state during his regime but would also revoke all the "draconian laws", including the AFSPA and the Disturbed Areas Act (DAA). The Chidambaram's changed stance on the AFSPA must put the NC leadership on the mat and suggest that the NC just couldn't take the Congress party for a ride. The Chidambaram's stand has undoubtedly emboldened the state Congress leadership and created additional difficulties for the NC in general and Omar Abdullah in particular in the sense that the Union Home Minister has defended to the hilt the JKPCC stand on the AFSPA. Considering the prevailing mood in the Congress circles here in the state and New Delhi, it can be safely said that Omar Abdullah has lost the game. It would be a different story if he swallows all the humiliations to remain entrenched in the civil secretariat; he may do so what he would do so at the cost of the NC. |
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