http://www.asianage.com/columnists/reconciling-irreconcilable-641
Mar 06, 2015
Mr Sayeed plays to the gallery to score brownies. Like a leopard not changing its spots, he has displayed this trait. His assertion that when he was chief minister last, he got a general to place his hat at the feet of an imam is totally false.
Politics is the art of the possible in which there can be strange bedfellows in pursuit of po-wer. After two months of talks the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, with diametrically opposite ideologies and agenda, have reached a consensus for sharing power in Jammu and Kashmir. There has been some give and take by both. However, this is a mismatched marriage which may not last long. The PDP-Congress alliance from 2002 to 2008, when the two parties had no fundamental ideological differences, was not a happy experience. As mutually decided, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had to vacate the chief minister’s chair on completing three years as the chief minister. The PDP now started acting almost like an Opposition. Its ministers boycotted Cabinet meetings on flimsy grounds and even boycotted functions presided over by the President of India. Ultimately, the PDP withdrew support leading to the fall of the Congress chief minister. Let us hope that the new coalition partners fare better, particularly when the BJP prudently has conceded a full six-year term for Mr Sayeed. It is premature to have a non-Muslim chief minister in Kashmir at present.
Democracy has now got properly established in Kashmir. There was a time in the days of Sheikh Abdullah when single candidates would contest elections from a constituency and get elected unopposed. After Sheikh’s dismissal in 1953, the scenario changed. B.K. Nehru who was governor of Kashmir in the Seventies, wrote in his autobiography “from 1953 to 1975 chief ministers of the state had been the nominees of Delhi appointed through rigged elections.” Indira-Sheikh accord in 1975 brought Sheikh Abdullah back to power. He won a huge mandate at the polls. Thereafter, elections again started being rigged. The 1987 election was heavily rigged causing much frustration among those who lost. Mohammed Yusuf Shah, now known as Syed Salahudeen, was defeated at the polls. He went over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and has been organising terrorist attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) since then.
The 2002 Assembly election was universally recognised as free and fair. International correspondents witnessed and confirmed this. Mr Sayeed, who had been the president of the Congress in the state, joined the Janata Party of V.P. Singh and became Union home minister for a while. It is said that he stage managed the abduction of his daughter and released five terrorists to get her back with a view to building a political base for himself in the Valley. He then started a new political party called the PDP.
After the 2002 election, he formed a coalition with the Congress and became chief minister for three years. His ditching the Congress in 2008 did not help him in winning the election that year. The National Conference formed a coalition government with the Congress for six years. In the 2014 election, the PDP emerged as the single-largest party with the BJP coming a close second.
The 2014 Assembly election has been unique in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. Hitherto Jammu used to be an appendage to other political parties and had little say in state politics. For the first time Jammu, represented by the BJP, has emerged as a force to reckon with. Not only in electoral politics but also in resolving the Kashmir issue, Jammu region can no longer be ignored. Kashmir-centric thinking has to be changed to Jammu and Kashmir centric. It is not generally known that separatism or terrorism in Kashmir is largely confined to Kashmiri speaking Sunni Muslims (30 per cent), who are a minority in the state, occupying only 10 per cent of land space in Indian-administered Kashmir. The remaining 70 per cent of the population is Shia Muslims (12 per cent), Gujars, Bakherwals, Paharis (30 per cent) and Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists (30 per cent) making a total of about 70 per cent.
The Modi wave has helped the BJP to emerge as the second-largest party, only three short of the PDP. The latter is the single-largest party with 28 seats. The NC has secured 15 seats, the Congress 12 and others six.
Both the PDP and the BJP can form government with the help of minor parties. Just as the BJP-Congress alliance is not possible, the PDP-NC alliance will be unworkable due to well-known personal animosity between their top leaders. The PDP-BJP alliance appears to be the best option with the advantage of getting full support from the Centre.
Compromise has been reached over various disputed issues. The PDP has given up its demand of self-rule, common currency, combined Upper House with PoK, elected governor and so on, and the BJP in turn has softened on abolition of Article 370. There has to be status quo in regard to this article.
In course of time, it should wither away. The PDP seems to have relaxed its stand on West Pakistan refugees who continue to be denied state citizenship for the last seven decades, whereas, in 1950 Tibetan Muslim refugees who came to Srinagar were immediately given state citizenship. The PDP has given up on immediate abolition of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. It can be withdrawn gradually as and when certain areas become peaceful and Army’s presence is not required. The Valley, with a smaller electorate, has nine more seats in the Assembly than Jammu region. A delimitation commission should be set up immediately. As for the PDP’s demand for dialogue with Pakistan, this is already being done. There is no harm in having talks with the half-a-dozen separatist leaders from the five out of 24 districts in the state who have hardly any support beyond the Valley floor in the state. They cannot claim to be the sole spokesmen of the people of the state like Jinnah’s claim in 1947 to be the sole spokesman of Muslims of India.
In 2008, round table talks were held with all stakeholders in the state. The separatists boycotted this and the Mirwaiz had said that he could not participate in talks with Tom, Dick and Harry.
From the time of his daughter’s abduction in 1990 and the deal struck with the terrorists, Mr Sayeed has had the reputation of being a soft separatist with a soft corner for Pakistan. He plays to the gallery to score brownies to consolidate his political base. Like a leopard not changing its spots, he has displayed this trait again in 2015. His bizarre assertion that when he was chief minister last, he got a general to place his hat at the feet of an imam is totally false.
Similarly, on day one of being chief minister again, he has made other bizarre and false assertions that the 2014 Assembly elections could be held peacefully courtesy Pakistan and terrorists/separatists. During the election about half a dozen encounters took place with the terrorists. One wonders how long the coalition headed by Mr Sayeed will last.
The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir
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