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 From Sheikh Abdullah to
Mehbooba Mufti, Kashmir has produced many leaders who led the people to a
garden path that finally ended up in a graveyard. It is because of this
reason that graves in Kashmir have spread faster than even the weed that
spreads in the waters of the Dal Lake. Their tactics were the same, their
slogans were same and their style was the same. Though, most of them enjoyed power and ruled Kashmir
as ‘Indian agents’, yet they managed to maintain their separatist image.
For this they spoke differently at different places and the people kept
judging and guessing. And the process continues.
But
this cannot be said about Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Mufti remained Congress
chief in the State for over a dozen years and it is because of his
efforts that Congress is eating grapes today. He plays politics like
chess and does not compromise on principles. On policy matters he left
Rajive Gandhi despite the fact that he was a union minister. Keeping in
view his potential, Narsimha Rao brought him back into Congress fold, but
due to differences on the issue of distributing party tickets he again
left the party and formed PDP, which is calling shots now leaving his
rivals scared and surprised.
Mufti
Sayeed has many positive points to his credit, the biggest being his
conviction of the cause and then determination to achieve it. He was
convinced that National Conference has been a bottleneck in the
resolution of Kashmir crisis. So he fought to remove it as a sincere and
dedicated Congressman, but when he under-stood that Rajive Gandhi and
Farooq Adullah were chips of the same bloc, he left Congress and joined
Janata Dal, which represented his sentiments. When he returned to
Congress he was given assurance that his view point would prevail, but
this did not happen and he came out of the party in protest to form his
own party, which is fighting the ‘evil’ even today.
His
another plus point is that he is very considerate towards his workers. As
a result, a large number of them have become financially independent; it
is another thing though that most of them left him when he needed them
the most.
Another
thing that goes to his credit is that he does not succumb to pressures,
which also proves his steadfastness of conviction though in this process
he had been losing good friends. He is convinced that for solving Kashmir
problem not violence but dialogue was the right path. This he made his
party’s election plank and won as many as 17 seats in the very first
attempt. To ensure that his slogan “ Bandooq sai na goli sai, baat
banay gi boli sai” faced no threats he eliminated maximum number of
terrorists during his tenure as Chief Minister though he still has a
pro-militant image. Even in Jammu, he is preaching his self-rule proposal
tirelessly despite knowing that his formula is not acceptable in the
Dogra heartland. Due to his conviction however he has succeeded to make
the slogan at least debatable if not saleable and this is his victory.
When
PDP was formed softening of boarders was his yet another agenda, which he
fulfilled by opening five points on the LoC from where people from both
sides can come and go though for the time being the process has been
limited to the divided families only. And this he did by convincing the
Central Government that this was in he broader interest.
When
Mufti became Chief Minister, people thought he would be taking revenge
with NC by shifting its pet officers to unimportant positions. But this
did not happen. He did not make any reshuffles and waited till the term
of the officers matured. Even the J&K Bank chairman, M.Y.Khan who was
considered as a blue eyed boy of Farooq Abdullah was not touched. He too
was replaced when his term expired, which speaks volumes about his
patience and administrative skill.
Mufti
also wanted to free the administration from corruption. For this, instead
of making tall claims, he put some officers of known integrity on
important positions. He made S.S. Bloria as the Chief Secretary and
recalled R.V Raju from deputation and appointed him as Vigilance
Commissioner. His selection of capable men like Mushtaq Ganai, Anil
Goswami Ashok Bhan,and Dr. Ved Gupta too was a sincere step. Mufti brought Haseeb Drabu, an
eminent economist back from the centre and made him his economic advisor
besides making him the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank a position he
could give to any officer of his choice as Farooq Abdullah had done in
case of M.Y Khan. Bringing Amitabh Matoo from JNU, Delhi and making him
Vice Chancellor of Jammu University was yet another honest effort of
Mufti Sayeed. Constituting Accountability Commission and making Justice
Sethi as its Chairman also goes to the credit of Mufti Sayeed. Needless
to say, Justice Sethi has not been an ordinary judge. He has been known
for integrity and bold decisions, it is another thing though that his own
son ditched him.
Mufti Sayeed took many
initiatives, which are giving dividends now. If the present Government has chosen some officers to
be taken to task for corruption the cases were prepared by Mufti Sayeed.
It is another thing though that when time to take action came, he had to
leave the chair under the power sharing agreement.
Creation
of more Development Authorities and Sub Divisions and Tehsils has been
Mufti’s decision. He was not averse to implementing Wazir Commission
Report, too. To make it acceptable in the Valley where he was facing
resistance he wanted to give two districts to Kashmir also for which he
couldn’t get Centre’s nod.
Mufti
is meticulous. He has been a good leader, a good administrator and a good
politician. He is certainly different from rest of the leaders who tread
beaten tracks. He knows how
and when to use and throw people, but this is politics and if Mufti is called
to be a shrewd politician he is not being called so for nothing.
Swimming in Shallow Brooks
SACHIN SHARMA
 Ghulam Nabi Azad seems
losing patie-nce and his flickering stand on various issues is a proof of
that. He began with his slogan of removing corruption, but now he says
dishonest officers are more competent than the honest meaning thereby
that action against the corrupt cannot be taken if the State
administration has to run. This statement has given more teeth to the
corrupt rather than to the Chief Minister himself who wanted to weed out
corruption from the second most corrupt state of the country. According
to him the only competent and honest person in the State administration
was Parvez Dewan. But the way the condition of Delhi based J&K Guest
House, which till yesterday was under the charge of Mr. Dewan
deteriorated speaks volumes about his competence. However if the CM is
still convinced with the working of Mr. Dewan then why is he wasting his
services at Delhi and why doesn’t he call him back to the State where
services of honest and competent officers are needed the most?
His somersault on the issue of Afzal Guru is
yet another example of Azad’s flickering mind. If he demanded clemency
for the mastermind of an attack on Indian Parliament it was not without a
purpose. In fact Azad wanted to create space for him and his party in
Kashmir, but he withdrew when he found that instead of becoming popular
in Kashmir he was losing his existing popularity in the Dogra heartland
also where Congress has a good base. It seems Azad does not take steps by
conviction; instead he takes them by compulsion. In politics, conviction
is an asset on the basis of which leaders frame their policies and stick
to them religiously. But when there is no conviction there can’t be a
permanent policy either.
Conditions have the tendency to change and it is the
conviction that keeps conditions under control. Unfortunately in case of
Mr. Azad, it is not the policies that control conditions; it is the
conditions that are controlling the policies a fact that is bound to add
to the existing confusion and chaos.
Azad needless to say has a great experience of
swimming in an ocean, but swimming in shallow brooks, where at every step
there is a boulder to hit the swimmer, is far difficult and challenging.
And in Jammu and Kashmir the number of protruding boulders is alarmingly
high, which Azad may not have visualized when he came here.
Azad began his journey fast, but the small
state was not the suitable place. Running it needed slow but calculated
steps a fact, which Azad ignored and the result is that he is nowhere
near the targets that he pledged to hit one year ago. It is good that he
has not given in and is determined to run the State for next twenty
years, but for this he will have to reshape his strategy. The tiny state
is posing a challenge, which hopefully he will meet with success. After
all he has not been called as a troubleshooter for nothing.
Will the Thundering
Panther Ever Bite?
NERAJ
GUPTA
Barking dogs seldom bite is an old English proverb, which holds
good even today particularly when Bhim Singh is discussed. Bhim Singh
happens to be a senior political figure of Jammu and Kashmir. He rose
from a student leader and is the Chief of an aggressive Panthers Party.
Only till yesterday his party was an important constituent of the
coalition Government, but due to his ‘blow hot blow cold’ attitude the
party had to lose the ministry and now it is supporting the Government
from outside.
Known for flickering attitude,
Professor Bhim Singh has threatened to withdraw its party’s support to
the Government at least 400 times during his stay in the grand alliance.
And how long the threatening process will continue, this even the old
Panther may not be knowing. Professor Bhim Singh like Dr. Karan Singh is
a ‘global citizen’. He has friends in Iraq and Palestine. He is a
renowned jurist having earned enough fame in the Apex court particularly
by contesting cases of militants whether Kashmiris or belonging to
Pakistan. This way he might be earning huge amount of money in the backdrop
of which doing politics in Jammu and Kashmir may not be his priority, but
he is perhaps unaware that his attitude will doom the prospect of younger
generation that has tied their political fate with him.
While being in the alliance, Panthers
Party cannot oppose Government for its wrongs. Neither can it praise the
Government because that would amount to committing suicide. Panthers
Party as on date is facing a precarious situation coming out of which
should be its first priority. Most of the party cadres believe that
Panthers should either join the Ministry so that cake of the credit could
be shared or it should come out of the alliance and behave like an
effective opposition to exploit the antincumbancy factor to its hilt. How
does their chief feels about the prevailing situation only he knows, but
the growing feeling within the young Panthers is that the undecisiveness
of the Professor will cost them heavily. In a way a revolt is brewing in
the Panthers Party, which may explode any time. After all the future of
young Panthers is at stake!
State Choppers Again on Hit List
State Choppers Again on Hit List
SAWANT SINGH
State helicopters are once
again under attack of criticism, this time by the NC Chief Omar Abdullah.
In a public meeting organized by his party’s Riasi unit, the son of the
former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah has advised the State
Government to put its fleet of choppers in the garages so that burden on
a common man due to their increasing misuse could be avoided.
When his father was the Chief Minister and
when Omar himself was the Union Minister, serious allegations would be
leveled against them for misusing State helicopters for their personal
use. PDP had even made misuse of State helicopters as its election plank
during last Assembly elections that paid dividend. It is another thing
though that Mufti Sayeed also earned severe criticism for misusing these
kites during his tenure as CM. And now it is the turn of Ghulam Nabi Azad
to enjoy flying in the air and bearing brunt at ground level.
There was a time when the
Maharaja of the State had a car and he would use it between Srinagar and
Jammu may be twice during the year when the secretariat would move. Even
then Sheikh Abdullah would say, “ It is the blood of a common man that
was burning in Maharaja’s car”. People are critical about misuse of
public money. They don’t find any logic in flying in the air by their
leaders at the expense of public exchequer that can be used for public
development. But who cares? Every one who claims to be honest becomes
dishonest when an opportunity to misuse public money comes. People have
seen Sheikh Abdullah doing so, they saw his son doing so and the process
continues.
Will the Juicy Apple
Fall in Congress Watering Mouth?
Arvind Joshi
 Amidst reports that differences
have erupted between National Conference high command and party’s
provincial president Ajay Sadhotra, people have started guessing about
the future of National Conference in this part of the State.
Once
a blue eyed boy of Farooq Abdullah, Ajay Sadhotra seems upset with his
leader for encouraging his detractors within the party. Some time back
when his adversaries took out a rally in the streets of winter capital to
highlight the failures of the Congress-PDP Government without his
knowledge the provincial president had asked the party high command to
take disciplinary action against the rebels. But they were encouraged
instead and the proof of it was Farooq Abdullah’s participation in yet
another rally organised by his ‘enemies’ and that too in his home
constituency, Marh. This time again the provincial president voiced his
concern and apprised the party president Omar Abdullah about growing
in-discipline in the party.
As a result the party chief cancelled all those party functions to
be held in Jammu province in which he was not participating. By doing so,
Omar gave an indication that Ajay Sadhotra is dear to him, but how long
Jammu leaders will continue loving National Conference would be watched
with keen interest particularly when NC’s myth is gradually losing charm in
Kashmir where Mufti’s PDP is fast emerging as an alternative to the party
of Abdullahs.
In
Jammu also, the local leaders
in general have started realizing that future of Kashmir based
regional parties in the new situation was fast bleakening and remaing in
them would be like committing political hara kari. To sing duet
with separatists might be a compulsion of both NC and PDP, but this has
no takers in Jammu where autonomy and self-rule are considered as
anti-Jammu and anti-national slogans. What is the real cause of bickering
and whether Omar Abdullah will succeed in prevailing upon Sadhtra and his
supporters, this, time will tell, but what political Pundits tell is that
Jammu leaders will gain if they desert National Conference on issue of
Autonomy.
Something
is definitely cooking behind the curtain that may prove tasty for
Congress because out of the two locally popular parties - Congress and
BJP, Congress can be more acceptable for those leaving National
Conference in Jammu.
Lal Peelay Lal
Ji
ARUN JAMWAL
 Truth is bitter and that is
why it wins no friends. Choudhry Lal Singh MP also is habitual of
speaking truth and that is why he has no friends particularly in his
party, Congress. During his elections from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha
constituency, he would rebuke party leaders and party ministers
accompanying him for making false promises on the stage thus earning the
wrath of MS Niaz, the all powerful Power Minister and his lobby in the
party.
The fire brand
Congress leader once again fell like lightning from the sky on his own
party colleagues including the Chief Minister when he presented a list of
party failures in a public rally
organized to commemorate the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister,
Indira Gandhi. Obviously, by doing so he has antagonized his party men
instead of winning their trust.
Sycophancy has been
weakness of everybody. Even Gods have been fond of it. Had this not been
true, devotional songs and Aarty wouldn’t have been written and
composed. Ministers and leaders, being mortal souls, too are pleased by
the praises despite knowing that they do not deserve them. But if a
single word is uttered of what they deserve they get annoyed and this is
happening with Lal Singh also. Lal Singh believes is telling a spade a
spade, but he does not know where and when to do so. By telling that
double shift system in R&B was a hoax Lal Singh has criticized the
R&B Minister Thakur Gulchain Singh who once was his mentor. Both
begin their political career as Congress ‘T’ activists under Arjun Singh’s
leadership and when Congress ‘T’ was merged into Congress Lal Singh
joined Congress whereas Gulchain Singh joined NC and became its MLC and
now Lal Singh is Lok Sabha member and Gulchain Singh the minister
in-charge of the all important Roads and Building department. However, the bonds of friendship
between Guru Chela no more exist now. Lal Singh’s outburst
against Gulchain Singh on the issue of double shift at least speaks
volumes about this. How Gulchain Singh reacts only time will tell, but he
will certainly react because like Lal Singh he too is a typical Rajput
who believes in telling truth but not when!
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