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| For power National Conference compromises its ideology | | Advantage PDP, integrationis | | Rustam
Jammu, Mar 20: PDP president and Leader of Opposition in legislative assembly Mehbooba Mufti yesterday tore into the ruling NC and described as "betrayal" its vote in the Lok Sabha for the Presidential Address which contained a reference to the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The voting took place on Monday. The NCTC of India has been facing stiff opposition from various states, including West Bengal, that consider establishment of the NCTC in its present form as an encroachment upon their law and enforcement powers and federalism features of the Indian constitution. Under the NCTC, which would be located in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the officials charged with the responsibility of tackling the menace of terrorism would not only have the power to gather intelligence but also the power of investigation and arrest without the consent of the state governments. It would be regime not consistent with the ones which exist in countries like US and UK.
Lambasting the NC leadership, Mehbooba Mufti accused them of "hoodwinking the people (read sections of Kashmiri Muslims) in the name of plebiscite and autonomy for more than six decades" and said that it again "came out in its true colours by supporting a measure that further erodes the authority of the states" of the Union. "The NC is behaving like the proverbial devil quoting scriptures within the state by talking autonomy and revocation of laws like ASFPA while remaining busy in importing more such laws as would finish last remnants of authority with the state," she said and added that "as the ruling party's sins and crimes catch with it, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah are increasingly finding comfort into the lap of their 'saviours' in Delhi to seek survival in power". 'This is an extremely dangerous situation for the state as the ruling family, weakened morally by crime and corruption, are selling out the interests of the state one after the other to stay in power," she also said. She did make a valid point when she questioned the powers given to the NCTC.
It was indeed a very scathing attack launched by Mehbooba Mufti on the Abdullah dynasty. There is no doubt whatever that she and her colleagues in the party would exploit to the hilt what the NC did in the Lok Sabha yesterday and in the Rajya Sabha today (NC again voted for the Presidential Address) as well as its alleged involvement in the multi-crore cricket scam and death of NC activist and loyalist of Abdullah dynasty Haji Yousuf in mysterious circumstances after he visited the official resident of Omar Abdullah to weaken the position of her political foes, especially in the Kashmir Valley. Why not? The PDP is the main opposition party and it will surely exploit the NC's weaknesses and acts of omission and commission to further improve its electoral prospects. The situation as it prevails today in Kashmir does suggest that while the popularity and support-base of the NC has sharply dwindled, the PDP has established its credibility to a considerable extent by playing a pro-active role, as also by exposing the NC's acts of omission and commission. The NC is knows the direction the wind is blowing in the state in general and Kashmir Valley in particular and, hence, its unstinted support to the Congress-dominated UPA government.
However, one needs to appreciate the NC on one count: dilution on its stand on autonomy. It is wonderful to see the NC members of parliament voting for a measure that negates the very basis of the NC's demand seeking greater autonomy for the state. It is not a secret that the NC has all along sought withdrawal of the central laws and institutions from the state on the ground that these have simply eroded the state's special status.
Now that the NC members of parliament have voted for the NCTC, which has been invested with extraordinary powers, for whatever reasons, may be for retaining control over power in Jammu and Kashmir, one can surely say that the NC has diluted its stand on its age-old demand for greater autonomy and it should be a source of satisfaction for those in the state who are bitterly opposed to the idea of the state getting more autonomy. It's is win-win situation both for the PDP and the integrationists. |
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