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| Farooq, Omar treading different paths | | Fooling People | | Rustam
JAMMU, Nov 28: The owners of the NC, which is becoming more and more unpopular with each passing day, have, it seems, gone totally confused and astray. They appear clueless, frustrated and desperate. They do not know how to get out of the difficult situation they themselves created in their desperate bid to deflect the people's attention from the issues of corruption, mal-administration and death of the Abdullah family's loyalist Syed Mohammad Haji in mysterious circumstances and save their positions. The case in point is the Chief Minister's October 21 sudden and unilateral controversial announcement that he would remove AFSPA from certain districts before the Secretariat reopens in Jammu on November 9.
Both the father and the son have been doing their best to restore the ground the NC lost over the period because of its utter failure to come up to the people's expectations, as also because of the reckless actions, knee-jerk reactions and immature and provocative statements of Omar Abdullah, but with no result. Contrarily, they are losing more ground to their political foes, PDP in Kashmir and JKNPP and BJP in Jammu. The reason is that the father and the son have started treading different paths, thus becoming objects of ridicule.
Omar Abdullah is saying one thing to come out of the mess he himself created by compromising his very credibility and by diluting his stand on AFSPA to retain control over power. Farooq Abdullah, on the other hand, has turned highly radical and adopted a line that is totally inconsistent with that of Omar Abdullah's. That Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah have adopted different stands could be seen from what the former said in Jammu on November 23 at State Guest House and what Farooq Abdullah told Karan Thapar in "Devil's Advocate" to be telecast on CNN-IBN.
What did Omar Abdullah said on November 23? He, among other things, said: "The State Government is ready to amend Ranbir Panel Code (RPC) to make it at par with CrPC (Indian Criminal Procedure Code) to provide legal protection and immunity to armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir at par with other States...A final nod to revoke AFSPA vests with Governor N N Vohra…Northern Command chief Lt Gen K T Parnaik has been requested to give his representative for a three members delegation announced by the Government to visit New Delhi shortly to take up the issue of AFSPA in North and South Blocks of New Delhi…There are two issues, one the rights of the Army and the other legal immunity to them where they are operating in the State…The Army has apprehensions that SHO or Havaldars would arrest their jawans and they will get entangled in unnecessary cases. They have also pointed out that in all other States of the country, Army enjoy protection under CrPC, which is not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir's RPC. We are ready to amend the RPC and take it at par with CrPC to remove doubts of the Army…The government is ready to give Army all those powers, which they enjoy under CrPC in other States. Army officers are afraid that their troops will be booked by the SHOs and Havaldars if the AFSPA is removed. This is not the case. This will not happen. Legal immunity is there. We are ready to make RPC at par with CrPC…The RPC can be amended to the extent of making it CrPC as far as operational safeguards for the Army were concerned…It is the Governor who has to take a final call on revocation of AFSPA. I have gone through the entire procedure, the files, the legal matters etc. When it was imposed, the Cabinet memo had gone to the Governor. Similar is the procedure for its revocation. The Cabinet has to approve revocation of the Act from the areas it deems fit and the memo has to go to the Governor for final nod…The Act (AFSPA) would go only after the Governor gave his assent. The final decision (on revocation of AFSPA) vests with the Governor. This is quite clear''. It was clear from what Omar Abdullah said that he had accepted his defeat and raised his hands. It was a complete U-turn, an exercise undertaken to save his chair.
Contrast what Farooq Abdullah told Karan Thapar with what Omar Abdullah said on November 23 and see for yourself the contradictions between the father and the son. Farooq Abdullah, inter-alia, told Karan Thapar: "Army is not the 'master' of the people of the state…It should concentrate on choking infiltration of terrorists…Local police and CRPF are capable enough to take over the security responsibilities from the areas from where AFSPA is likely to be removed…The AFSPA is a 'draconian' law. Army is not our master. Just remember that. People of Jammu and Kashmir are masters of the state. Army is not the master. Army is only to protect…The job of the Army is to guard the border so that infiltration does not take place and that police and the CRPF are ready to handle other matters…It is not a war between Army and the Abdullahs as projected by some section of media...These are questions of concerns of all of us whether they are Army's or of civilians. There are certain things we have to do for the betterment of the people, for the feeling of the people…that we are getting better. People of state feel that AFPSA should go…If the Chief Ministers wants it to go, the AFSPA has to go…"
What Farooq Abdullah told Karan Thapar was nothing but a manifestation of his desperation. It was also an exercise in self-deception. He did not reveal that it was the utter failure of the civil administration that had forced the State Government and the State Governor to invoke the relevant sections of the Disturbed areas Act to enable the Army to help the civil administration maintain law and order and neutralize fissiparous tendencies. He did not tell Thapar that the Army didn't enter the civilian areas on its own. He also didn't ask his son to do what he wants to do. His' was a double-speak; his' was a stand that must have raised many an eyebrow.
It is time for the father and the son to sit up, ponder over what they have doing and take one stand on the issue. They just cannot fool the people by singing different songs or taking contradictory positions on one issue. |
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