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| Taj's opposition to autonomy triggers fierce debate | | Confused Kamaal Making Fool Of Himself | | RUSTAM
JAMMU, July 5: Congress minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din's Tuesday interview to a local news agency has triggered a fierce controversy. In fact, his interview has rattled the Kashmir-based National Conference (NC) leaders, especially party additional general secretary and Omar Abdullah's uncle, Mustafa Kamaal, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and MLC and vice-chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council M Y Taing.
What has alarmed, rattled and infuriated Kamaal, Sagar and Taing was the Congress minister's unambiguous assertion that the autonomy issue is a "closed chapter", that it would be undesirable to revisit the central laws which were introduced in the state after August 1953 and that the NC must not look beyond the 1975 accord between the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and president of Plebiscite Front (PF) Sheikh Abdullah. Taj is a Congress leader, but, at the same time, he is a Gujjar and member of the Scheduled Tribe community. He knows the meaning of restoration of pre-1953 position in the state. He knows his community, plus Bakerwals, would suffer a grievous injury in case the central laws are withdrawn from the state.
The NC leaders perhaps had never expected that Taj Mohi-ud-Din would ever take a line that ran counter to the NC's line. This particular Congress minister is known for his very cordial relations with NC leaders, especially Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. He had taken cudgels a number of times with the party leadership, including JKPCC president Saif-ud-Din Soz, on the issue of rotational chief ministership. In fact, he had on occasions more than one opposed the votaries of rotational chief ministership and made common cause with Omar Abdullah, saying Omar Abdullah will complete his full term in office. There were occasions when many Congress leaders demanded action against Taj Mohi-ud-Din saying he had indulged in anti-party activities. Taj Mohi-ud-Din did puzzle and dumb-found the NC leadership when he opposed autonomy and defended all the central laws, without any exception.
The Congress minister's interview stung Mustafa Kamaal all the more. So much so that the latter said something which he should not have and by saying that something he made a fool of himself and his party leadership. The case in point is what Kamaal said about the 1975 Accord. He said: "After Mirza Afzal Beg and G parthasarthy were appointed to work out the modalities, after which the two leaders never met to sign the 1975 agreement. Had that been the case, the agreement would have been ratified by the assembly and the cabinet. But nothing of that sort happened…If Congress still believes that everything was settled in 1975 pact, the party should come up with a proof to end the suspicion. Let them prove Sheikh Abdullah had signed the pact".
Let's accept what Kamaal said for the sake of argument; let's accept that what he said was a correct version. But what he said didn't clear all the doubts. In fact, he created many more. For example, he didn't reflect on the circumstances under which his father, Sheikh Abdullah, compromised his ideology, disbanded his pro-Pakistan PF and became Chief Minister. Similarly, he did not disclose under which clause of the 1975 accord his father appointed a high-powered three-member cabinet sub-committee charged with the responsibility of looking into the central laws extended to the state after August 1953 and suggest withdrawal of those laws which had eroded the state's internal autonomy. Likewise, he did not disclose that his father had accepted the recommendations of D D Thakur who had said in his report that the needles of clock cannot be turned back and rejected outrightly the recommendations of G M Shah and Ghulam Nabi Kochak who had recommended wholesale withdrawal of the central laws and central institutions. Similarly, Kamaal did explain the circumstances under which his father and brother allowed New Delhi to extend more 18-odd central laws in the state between 1977 and 1990. He should have reflected on these issues in order to clear all the doubts. That he didn't do so and, instead, suppressed some vital facts only show that he is dishonest to the core.
And, what about the Kamaal's suggestion that let the Congress party prove that Sheikh Abdullah had signed the 1975 pact? Sheikh Abdullah had not signed the pact. So, where is the need for the Congress party to prove it? It is a fact. It is also a fact that Sheikh got the office of Chief Minister on a platter under the 1975 accord.
But the question to be asked is: Why did Sheikh Abdullah accept the office of Chief Minister without signing the 1975 pact? Kamaal has to explain. Besides, he has also to tell the people of the state if the so-called 1952 Delhi Agreement was signed by his father and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He should remember that neither Nehru nor his father had signed the so-called Delhi Agreement. They didn't do so because they had not reached any agreement. It is a different story that the NC leaders have been asking the Union Government to redefine the Centre-state relations strictly as per the so-called 1952 Delhi Agreement.
It is hoped that Taj Mohi-ud-Din would take on the NC leaders head on and prove them absolutely wrong and power-hungry. He cannot afford to allow Kamaal go scot-free.
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