Raman Suri
Continuing with the legacy of upkeeping ‘dynastic rule’, former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah who was very recently elected as National Conference (NC) President, finally admitted to having made what he termed as ‘a huge mistake’ by boycotting 2018 panchayat polls. This is indeed an honest confession for the reason that any political party registered with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and poised to serve the people must be an active participant in any electoral process that’s initiated and aimed at strengthening the democracy in India.
Better late than never! Farooq Abdullah’s this statement is indeed welcomed, especially when its ally People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the redundant lying People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), is yet to make any such confession of making mistake of boycotting the local body polls. Former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, unlike his daughter Mehbooba Mufti was a strong votary of democracy and always believed that war of ideologies must be fought through ‘ballot and not bullet’. Despite that, his daughter chose to boycott polls and never regretted.
By admitting his mistake of having boycotted Panchayat polls, Farooq Abdullah has not only made an honest confession but also stirred up the hornets’ nests. People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone was the first to react and reminded National Conference Chief Farooq Abdullah of having rigged the assembly elections of 1987 thereby affecting the political career of his father and the People’s Conference (PC). He even went ahead and held Farooq Abdullah responsible for over one lakh deaths that according to Sajad were the end result of alleged ‘electoral malpractices’.
This was what Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, unlike his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, throughout his political career and till his last breath kept reiterating that because National Conference (NC) rigged 1987 polls, unrest prevailed in the Kashmir valley that led to emergence of militancy. Today, when Farooq Abdullah chose to warn the Union Government and the security forces to not interfere in any election process, but forgot to mention the accusations that Sajad or Mufti Sayeed levelled upon the National Conference, will the newly elected chief of NC make another honest confession? Will he admit his alleged mistake of rigging elections to keep Mufti Sayeed and Muslim United Front (MUF) away from Jammu and Kashmir and democratic process respectively?
If not, let me remind Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, who keep swapping the post of National Conference (NC) party chief on rotation basis in the name of democracy in the party, that their party had also boycotted the 1996 Indian General Election but later agreed to participate in the 1996 Assembly elections only after Prime Minister, H. D. Deve Gowda assured them of “maximum autonomy” for Jammu and Kashmir, a demand that was raised by Farooq Abdullah but never saw the light of day.
In the name of ‘Autonomy’ and ‘Greater Autonomy’, some committees were also constituted, politicians and journalists made to head them, and even some vague reports were also submitted but they were all election gimmicks. In the end, it was the game of retaining power and after 1996, brute majority Farooq Abdullah and his team of ministers forgot everything except unleashing corruption and nepotism which caused its debacle, paving way for Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to become the Chief Minister for the first three years and then Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress for the remaining three years. This was for the first time when Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used for assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and holding of free and fair elections was internationally acclaimed, even by the international watchdogs.
Will Farooq Abdullah, who chose to target the security agencies and the Centre by telling them not to interfere in the next J&K elections, whenever held, confess to having seen such free and fair polls in the history of Jammu and Kashmir? Will he also admit that 1987 elections, as alleged by Sajad and Mufti Sayeed, were rigged and that his party made a big mistake by boycotting the 1996 Indian general elections, only to build pressure on the Union government for reasons better known to him? No, in this case, he either won’t regret or admit mistake.
Farooq Abdullah is also aware of the fact that over 120 protesters, mostly youngsters, were killed during the regime of his son and the 11th Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah. Omar remained the youngest Chief Minister from 2009 to 2015 and unrest that started in 2010 resulted in deaths of many youngsters, who used to pelt stones or confront the forces. Unable to contain that or hold Pakistan responsible for creating unrest in Kashmir, Omar chose to condemn security forces and stayed as a mute spectator to the killings. Will Farooq Abdullah admit this as the National Conference’s mistake?
As if this was not enough, Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister and Tara Chand of Congress as his Deputy Chief Minister, deliberately allowed the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Jammu and Kashmir to lapse after completion of their tenure by not holding elections to them. It was after much needed exercises that the municipal elections to 74 Municipal Committees, six Municipal Councils and two Municipal Corporations in J&K were held in 2005 after 23 years but the NC and the Congress coalition government didn’t hold elections after completion of their tenure in 2010. Will Farooq Abdullah admit to this mistake of not empowering people or letting democracy percolate down to the grassroot levels?
Today, the situation has reached such a stage where Sajad Lone went ahead to the extent of terming the National Conference as “The robber of 1987 elections”. Farooq dared to talk about what he termed as “outside interference in the polls” but forgot all the mistakes that NC made and brought J&K to the brink of collapse. It’s only after the abrogation of Article 370 that the situation has been brought under control to such an extent that stone pelting is over, young boys and girls are busy building their careers and the entire Kashmir Valley is witnessing peace, which all other political parties never even dreamt of.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not only extended the 73rd and 74th amendment of the constitution to J&K UT but also empowered the Panchayats and local bodies. It’s because of accountability that J&K is witnessing a system of governance where corruption, nepotism and red-tapism are all passé. Farooq Abdullah, who has been re-elected as NC chief, a tradition that the party is following without fail, must continue with the same but reserve his political gimmicks of dragging government or the security forces into what he called ‘interference’. No one is going to give NC any free run in any elections, whenever held in J&K. The party, like other political parties, will have to come at a level playing field and contest instead of boycotting.
It was after the abrogation of Article 370 that Abdullahs and Muftis had vociferously announced boycotting the coming elections but now, their temper is dying down. None other than the father-son duo has now started telling each other to gear up for elections knowingly that they can’t jeopardise political careers of thousands of their party workers and leaders like before by boycotting elections for no reasons. Knowing that none other than the Abdullahs or Muftis can head their respective parties, the workers and leaders won’t allow their chiefs to put their political careers at risk by not participating in the elections in J&K.
(The writer is Bharatiya Janata Party J&K Executive Member)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel