Of chief ministers and their mentors
By Ahmad Rashid
News Delhi is using its men in Kashmir like Polo horses, and shoots them down once they loose utility and fail to win the race, comments Ahmad Rashid
On July 11, when former RAW chief A S Dulat, in an interview with rediff news portal, said that he viewed Omer Abdullah as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, he only but reminded of a common perception and practice that chief ministers (for JK) are made in Delhi. It must be seen as an act of kindness that New Delhi relieved off the people of Kashmir of a terminally daunting task of electing a chief minister, more particularly when separatist parties and persons have apparently got together to oppose the elections. Like economic packages, political package in the form of a chief minister is no less a favor of New Delhi on the people of Kashmir. Assembly elections are still months ahead but New Delhi declared the result. People of Kashmir have little to bother about who could or should be in-charge of the civil secretariat now.
Exposure of New Delhi’s this year’s election plans by Dulat found Omer Abdullah tower over one and all. Two days later, Omer, on July 13, reciprocated New Delhi’s kind gesture with all that it could have wanted. Omer, at Martyrs’ Graveyard, fired all his salvos indiscriminately targeting both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, PDP and the Congress.
It reminds one of a billboard local Congress party had put up at Humhamma Chowk on airport road during Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Srinagar in April. The billboard read: we are thankful to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for appointing Ghulam Nabi Azad as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. When Azad was appointed chief minister, he was not even member of the State Assembly. His appointment orders came from Congress’s Delhi headquarters three days before Kashmir Congress legislature party (CLP) elected him as its leader in the state Assembly in November 2005. He got elected to the state Assembly several months later. In 2002, it were Dr Manmohan Singh (he was not Prime Minister then) and Ambika Soni, who gave the “good news” to the people of Kashmir that Mufti Mohammad Sayed would be the new occupant of top seat in the civil secretariat. Like Azad Mufti too was not member of the state Assembly then. Mufti’s party PDP had got 16 as against NC’s 28 and Congress’s 20 seats.
Despite being single largest party in the Assembly, the National Conference did not stake claim for government formation. The NC leadership knew that dispensation at New Delhi was not in a mood to oblige them this time. The inkling had come, a couple of months before, in Independence Day message of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying elections in Kashmir would be free and fair. More than anyone else, it was Dr Farooq Abdullah who read the exact import of the message: New Delhi was to put money on some other person. Dr Farooq Abdullah and his party had emerged as darling of New Delhi in 1996 when Kashmir was passing through a complete political chaos in the wake of armed movement against Indian rule. The traditional political parties had turned to separatist politics and other mainstream groups like PDP and PDF did not exist then. New Delhi was desperate to look for some bet. Farooq Abdullah came handy. It was Farooq Abdullah’s second bonhomie with New Delhi. Farooq was earlier bestowed with the seat of power by New Delhi in 1986 with the concurrence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Local Congress was also made to share power with the Abdullah. The partnership lasted beyond 1987-elections—infamous for rigging and manipulation. Farooq had earlier shared bitter relations with New Delhi. He was dislodged from power in 1984 by engineering defection in his party—National Conference—to install his brother-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah as the new chief minister of the state. Farooq Abdullah’s fault was that he had tried to see eye-to-eye with the rulers at the Centre. He hosted a conclave of the leaders of India opposed to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Shah was shown the door even more unceremoniously in 1986 by stage-managing communal clashes—unheard till then—in the valley. The state was brought under direct rule of New Delhi.
Legacy of imposing rulers by New Delhi dates back to 1947 when then Maharaja—Hari Singh—appointed Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah as administrator for Jammu and Kashmir. Though Abdullah merited the position in his own right for his prominence and stature in politics but Maharaja never hid his aversion to Abdullah. It, however, were Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Patel, who prevailed on Maharaja to share power with Abdullah. A few years later Abdullah was jailed by his maker—Nehru—only to come up with a new Prime Minister for Kashmir—Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad. But when Bakhshi, in the eyes of New Delhi lost relevance, he was made to resign to pave way for another stooge—Shamsuddin. His government however fell within a few weeks to the peoples’ uprising provoked by the theft of holy relic (SAW) from Hazratbal shrine. New Delhi stepped in again to impose a new Prime Minister—G M Sadiq—who was reduced to chief minister latter. Syed Mir Qasim, a strong aspirant for the position, traveled down to Delhi to parade members of the Assembly before central leadership to make his case but was sent back without giving any audience. Mir Qasim finally found favour with New Delhi after the death of G M Sadiq but was asked to step aside when New Delhi thought it to be the turn of Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah to take charge of the civil secretariat in 1975, ending his 22-year long (1953-75) political wilderness.
Moral of the story: chief ministers are made in Delhi and celebrated in Kashmir. Their positions however, are more or less like polo horses, which are shot down when they lose utility and fail to win the race.
Ends
By Ahmad Rashid
News Delhi is using its men in Kashmir like Polo horses, and shoots them down once they loose utility and fail to win the race, comments Ahmad Rashid
On July 11, when former RAW chief A S Dulat, in an interview with rediff news portal, said that he viewed Omer Abdullah as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, he only but reminded of a common perception and practice that chief ministers (for JK) are made in Delhi. It must be seen as an act of kindness that New Delhi relieved off the people of Kashmir of a terminally daunting task of electing a chief minister, more particularly when separatist parties and persons have apparently got together to oppose the elections. Like economic packages, political package in the form of a chief minister is no less a favor of New Delhi on the people of Kashmir. Assembly elections are still months ahead but New Delhi declared the result. People of Kashmir have little to bother about who could or should be in-charge of the civil secretariat now.
Exposure of New Delhi’s this year’s election plans by Dulat found Omer Abdullah tower over one and all. Two days later, Omer, on July 13, reciprocated New Delhi’s kind gesture with all that it could have wanted. Omer, at Martyrs’ Graveyard, fired all his salvos indiscriminately targeting both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, PDP and the Congress.
It reminds one of a billboard local Congress party had put up at Humhamma Chowk on airport road during Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Srinagar in April. The billboard read: we are thankful to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for appointing Ghulam Nabi Azad as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. When Azad was appointed chief minister, he was not even member of the State Assembly. His appointment orders came from Congress’s Delhi headquarters three days before Kashmir Congress legislature party (CLP) elected him as its leader in the state Assembly in November 2005. He got elected to the state Assembly several months later. In 2002, it were Dr Manmohan Singh (he was not Prime Minister then) and Ambika Soni, who gave the “good news” to the people of Kashmir that Mufti Mohammad Sayed would be the new occupant of top seat in the civil secretariat. Like Azad Mufti too was not member of the state Assembly then. Mufti’s party PDP had got 16 as against NC’s 28 and Congress’s 20 seats.
Despite being single largest party in the Assembly, the National Conference did not stake claim for government formation. The NC leadership knew that dispensation at New Delhi was not in a mood to oblige them this time. The inkling had come, a couple of months before, in Independence Day message of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying elections in Kashmir would be free and fair. More than anyone else, it was Dr Farooq Abdullah who read the exact import of the message: New Delhi was to put money on some other person. Dr Farooq Abdullah and his party had emerged as darling of New Delhi in 1996 when Kashmir was passing through a complete political chaos in the wake of armed movement against Indian rule. The traditional political parties had turned to separatist politics and other mainstream groups like PDP and PDF did not exist then. New Delhi was desperate to look for some bet. Farooq Abdullah came handy. It was Farooq Abdullah’s second bonhomie with New Delhi. Farooq was earlier bestowed with the seat of power by New Delhi in 1986 with the concurrence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Local Congress was also made to share power with the Abdullah. The partnership lasted beyond 1987-elections—infamous for rigging and manipulation. Farooq had earlier shared bitter relations with New Delhi. He was dislodged from power in 1984 by engineering defection in his party—National Conference—to install his brother-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah as the new chief minister of the state. Farooq Abdullah’s fault was that he had tried to see eye-to-eye with the rulers at the Centre. He hosted a conclave of the leaders of India opposed to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Shah was shown the door even more unceremoniously in 1986 by stage-managing communal clashes—unheard till then—in the valley. The state was brought under direct rule of New Delhi.
Legacy of imposing rulers by New Delhi dates back to 1947 when then Maharaja—Hari Singh—appointed Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah as administrator for Jammu and Kashmir. Though Abdullah merited the position in his own right for his prominence and stature in politics but Maharaja never hid his aversion to Abdullah. It, however, were Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Patel, who prevailed on Maharaja to share power with Abdullah. A few years later Abdullah was jailed by his maker—Nehru—only to come up with a new Prime Minister for Kashmir—Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad. But when Bakhshi, in the eyes of New Delhi lost relevance, he was made to resign to pave way for another stooge—Shamsuddin. His government however fell within a few weeks to the peoples’ uprising provoked by the theft of holy relic (SAW) from Hazratbal shrine. New Delhi stepped in again to impose a new Prime Minister—G M Sadiq—who was reduced to chief minister latter. Syed Mir Qasim, a strong aspirant for the position, traveled down to Delhi to parade members of the Assembly before central leadership to make his case but was sent back without giving any audience. Mir Qasim finally found favour with New Delhi after the death of G M Sadiq but was asked to step aside when New Delhi thought it to be the turn of Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah to take charge of the civil secretariat in 1975, ending his 22-year long (1953-75) political wilderness.
Moral of the story: chief ministers are made in Delhi and celebrated in Kashmir. Their positions however, are more or less like polo horses, which are shot down when they lose utility and fail to win the race.
Ends
posted by kashmirstudycentre | 5:57 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home