B L Saraf
One line in a statement and one important Minister in Cabinet goes out, unceremoniously . CM Mehbooba Mufti has sacked her Finance Minister for a statement made by him, in Delhi. Finance Minister (now former) Haseeb Drabu and a PDP leader, while addressing annual ‘Ambassador’s Meet ‘ organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce at New Delhi, said ” “For Kashmir is not just a political problem but a social issue . Our society has been ravaged one we need to address that first. It is in this, we seek your help. … I think we have been barking up wrong tree … ” That line cost him his job . Drabu’s sin: he undermined political aspect of the problem and underscored the need to address the social issue, instead.
C M Mehbooba, who heads PDP, felt that Drabu had crossed the line. How could he say that Kashmir is not a political issue? So, he had to be punished. Kashmir is very much a political issue and it must be said in her favor that she and her father, late Mufti Sayeed, created PDP with a specific agenda and set it up on the politics which, most felt, bordered on ‘soft separatism’ . For Mehbooba, therefore, someone close to her saying that Kashmir is not a political issue would amount to knocking out the very basis on which PDP stood founded. It is, indeed, blasphemy to her.
Haseeb Drabu seems to have brought it upon himself. He has been the chief architect of the alliance Government and co-author of Agenda of Alliance on which the coalition PDP-BJP Government was expected to work . His statement could be taken in negation of the document which in no uncertain terms laid emphasis in solving the political issue, ailing State. Any one saying that Kashmir problem is the social issue and underestimates the political aspect of it is deluding himself . There is no denying that the ongoing violent unrest has led to the huge moral degradation and societal unrest. The socio -economic problem we face today is the off -shoot of the decades old unaddressed political problem. Hence, to say that repair of the moral fabric will settle the problem sounds too simplistic .
Drabu may have a point. But there are many delicate nuances of politics in Kashmir. Any active practitioner of the art has to act delicately, having due regard to the inbuilt sensitivities. Though, some would say that more than political or social Kashmir is a psychological problem. Fragility in the perception is a rule .
Jammu and Kashmir is essentially a political issue with symptoms of law and order ailment. We have hardly experienced peace in the Valley since independence. The issue can’t be viewed only from a law and order angle and tackled in that way . The disease must be cured, symptoms will automatically vanish. It has been a constant refrain of all the Governments at Centre and in State that the J & K has a serious political issue which needs to be sorted out. That is why we often hear words like ” Insaneyat, Jhamhooryat and Kashmiriat ” being invoked to settle the issue.
The alacrity with which Mehbooa’s has acted sends out two strong signals. First, that she is in control of the PDP and the Government and would not hesitate to pack off even a person perceived to be a leading light in the Government. It affirms the belief that Mehbooba would not countenance any one snatching away her anchorage in the Kashmir centric politics. Any delay in action on her part would have meant back tracking and conceding ground to her arch rival – the National Conference . Second, it is for the BJP people with whom Drabu was reportedly cozying up . That, she is firm on her view about J &K’s special status within the Indian Union and will not tolerate any dilution thereof .
For Haseeb Drabu to have come to such a situation where he is perceived to have aligned himself with Central political forces, and is made to pay for it, is indeed irony of sorts . He is credited with having drafted the “Self – Rule ” document – Magna Carta of the PDP. Apart from that he has drafted so many PDP election manifestos and aspirational documents giving full vent to the Party’s agenda .
He is the person who as the Chairman of J&K Bank devised three separate bank calendars for three regions of the J&K state and has been the brain behind the then Fiancé Minister, Tarriq Hamid Qarra’s idea of dual currency for the State. Is this a moment of truth or dejavu for him, Hasseb Drabu alone can comment .
This development has many lessons . Significant one is that all is not well with the PDP. Cracks within the alliance are quite visible. Drabu’s exit will have some impact on the alliance functioning. Moreso, when Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections are nearing in, and Kashmir situation refusing to show any sign of improvement .He was the point man to iron out the creases which many a time hampered governance business. There is every reason for B JP not to be happy with the development. They consider Drabu’s ouster from the Cabinet as a ‘ setback ‘ to the PDP -BJP alliance
Finance Ministers in the PDP Government seem to be jinxed. Drabu is the third one to leave unsung. His exit is like that of his predecessor Muzzafar Hussian Beg’s ouster from the Gulam Nabi Azad led Congress -PDP coalition Government, in 2008 as a fall out of Amarnath land row. Beg was seen cozying up with Azad, much to the discomfiture of Mufti Sayeed . Third PDP FM, Tarriq Hamid Qarra has gone into the political wilderness .
(The author is former Principal District and Sessions Judge)
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