news details |
|
|
| Cinema & Wine: Omar needs to pursue Farooq line | | Kashmir Not Islamic State | | Neha
JAMMU, Dec 8: Notwithstanding his controversial and provocative stand on Jammu & Kashmir, NC president and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah does deserve appreciation for what he has been saying since the last three days in and outside Kashmir. He has been saying that Kashmir is part of secular India; that Kashmir is not an Islamic state; that cinema houses needs to be re-opened and liquor shops be opened in the Valley to attract tourists; and that those who are criticizing him for his views on cinema and liquor are simply hypocrites.
The BJP is the first political outfit that has swung solidly behind Farooq Abdullah and condemned the likes of Syed Ali Shah Geelani who denounced the NC president and described his views as anti-Islam and against the Kashmiri cultural ethos. Farooq Abdullah is likely to get more support in the coming days. In fact, a very powerful section of print and electronic media has already taken up the issue Farooq Abdullah raised three days ago in Srinagar and taken on those preaching orthodoxy in Kashmir.
However, the question to be asked is: Will the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government pursue the Farooq line and reopen cinema houses and open liquor shops across the Kashmir Valley or will he submit to the diktat of Geelani who has urged his followers to hold protest demonstrations in Kashmir tomorrow to register anger against Farooq Abdullah? It appears he would go with the likes of Geelani and not reopen the closed down cinema houses and open liquor shops. The statement that he made yesterday in response to the media query in this regard suggested that he was not prepared to take cudgels with Geelani and others of his ilk. Of course, he criticized Geelani and others of his ilk, but told media persons that they should talk to his father who made the statement that he made on cinema houses and liquor shops for further clarification as he was not aware of what Farooq Abdullah said. It is difficult to believe that Omar Abdullah was not aware of what his father said. He knew everything and yet feigned ignorance.
It is this statement of Omar Abdullah that has created serious doubts in the minds of the people. Besides, the past experience suggests that Omar Abdullah has consistently relented under pressure from Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and others of their ilk. Take, for example, his government's decision to withdraw the Revenue Department's order on the issuance of Dogra certificate to those desirous of joining paramilitary forces, including the CRPF. Also take into consideration what he said about the Baltal land in Kashmir in July 2008 - land that had been transferred to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for creating facilities for the Amarnath pilgrims. It bears recalling that he had said on the floor of the Lok Sabha that "the land belongs to us and we will no give an inch of land". This was what Geelani and others of his ilk had said before. One can catalogue here umpteen instances to show that there is no fundamental difference between him and those whom we call orthodox and conservative.
Omar Abdullah needs to dispel the impression that his views on several issues are similar to the ones the extremists and fundamentalist forces in Kashmir hold. He can do so by pursuing his father's line. It would be improper on his part not to respect his father's views. He must respect his father's views as an obedient son and reopen forthwith cinema houses and open liquor shops in Kashmir with the vigour his government opens liquor shops in Jammu province, which also houses nearly 30 per cent Muslims. Not to issue an order to this effect would mean that he doesn't share his father's views and that he feels more comfortable with Geelani and similar others who have virtually dismissed Farooq Abdullah as an heretic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
