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| Kashmiri leaders need to reform themselves, says Abdul Rehman | | Sane Counsel | | Rustam
JAMMU, Jan 15: Is Samajwadi party leader and president of its state unit Sheikh Abdul Rehman a changed man? Has he recognized the fact that the Muslims of Kashmir have their future secure only in India rather than in Pakistan or in an autonomous Kashmir or in an independent Kashmir? Has he finally come to the conclusion that the Kashmiri leadership has only played havoc with the people of Kashmir and that it was time for them to refashion its approach towards India, help restore peace and normality in the militant-infested and disturbed Kashmir Valley and strengthen bonds between Kashmir and the rest of the country? The answer to these three straight questions seems to be in the affirmative, notwithstanding certain controversial statements he made in the recent past, particularly those concerning the centre-state relations. His most controversial stand all along has been on what he calls "Chenab Valley", which otherwise is non-existent. He is not politically naïve; he is a politician in his own right. He knows that there exists in the Jammu province no such Valley as the Chenab Valley and yet his insistence for reasons best known to him.
Any way, Sheikh Abdul Rehman, once an ideologue of the Jana Sangh, is one Muslim leader in the state who has on occasions took on the Kashmiri leadership saying it has not dispensed justice to the people of Jammu province. His grievance against the Kashmiri leadership all along has been that it has manipulated an excessive and preponderant share of representation in the Legislative Assembly by subverting the Representation of People's Act. And, his suggestion in this regard always was that if the people of Jammu province were to obtain their due share in the governance of the state as part and parcel of the state, then a fair delimitation of the assembly segments is imperative. He continues to hold the same view even today. He is absolutely right when he takes on the Kashmiri leadership and demands de novo delimitation of constituencies strictly as per the criteria as prescribed by the Representation of People's Act. The Sheikh's stand on the issue of delimitation has all along been quite inspiring.
However, what perhaps was all the more inspiring was his intervention in a television debate organized yesterday by a local news channel, JK Channel, on the current political situation in Pakistan with Surinder Sharma anchoring the programme. Sheikh Abdullah Rehman was very candid in his reflections on Pakistan and virtually suggested that Pakistan would collapse in case its political and military leadership refuses to see the writing on the wall and continues to behave in the fashion it has been behaving ever since August 1947, when Pakistan came into being. His' was indeed a very pithy intervention. However, it was his reflections on the Kashmiri leadership which one needs to consider and appreciate. He, among other things, said: "It would be only desirable if the Kashmiri leadership sits up, ponders over what has led to anarchy in Pakistan and refashions its whole attitude towards India". He asserted that "India is a democratic, secular and liberal country" and that it would be a crime if the Kashmiri leadership failed to appreciate the Indian political system. He did express his concern over the evils which have crept into the system, but still he insisted that the Indian political system is the best and the Kashmiri leadership must become part of it by discarding their conservative views.
What Sheikh Abdul Rehman said was indeed a very sane counsel. One can only hope and pray that good sense would finally prevail and the Kashmiri leadership abandons the path of confrontation. The people of Kashmir have everything to gain and nothing to lose by reposing faith in the Indian political system. But the question to be asked is: Will the Kashmiri leadership pay any heed to the Sheikh's sane counsel? It is a very difficult question to answer considering the fact that the Kashmiri leadership is interested more in worldly matters than in the well-being and happiness of the general public in the Valley. It is for the general public in Kashmir to take the lead and force the Kashmiri leadership to see reason and behave.
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