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| July 03, 2000 | ||
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| KASHMIR Repeating History The debate on autonomy has helped Farooq hit back at the Centre for its offer of talks with the Hurriyat and divert attention from his misrule. By Harinder Baweja
Farooq summoned local commandos from the Jammu & Kashmir Police and left. The next day, the NSG sent a senior officer from Delhi to apologise to the chief minister while Union Minister of State for Home Vidya Sagar Rao phoned and regretted the faux pas. But for Farooq and his National Conference (NC), this was just another reminder of Delhi's insensitivity. Besides, it came on a day that marked a shift in the ties between the Centre and the state. Farooq's decision to press the pressure button through the autonomy report -- which calls for the restoration of the pre-1953 status in which the state controlled everything and left only the three departments of defence, communication and external affairs to the Centre -- has surprised many. Keen to be on the right side of the government in Delhi, Farooq has always thrown in his lot with the Centre. He did that first with the United Front and he has done that now with the BJP-led NDA Government. There were few problems with the United Front because it had included maximum autonomy in its Common Minimum Programme. But there are basic ideological differences between the NC and the BJP on the autonomy issue. While the NC is seeking greater autonomy for the state, the BJP advocates the very abrogation of Article 370 that gives Jammu & Kashmir a special status. The Centre displayed some nervousness when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called Farooq on the first day of the session after reports indicated that the NC was in a mood to take on the Centre by putting the report to vote. That is not difficult for the NC because it has a two-thirds majority in the Assembly. Farooq, in fact, flew down to Delhi midway through the session, ostensibly for a Finance Ministry meeting on sales tax, but also to confabulate with the prime minister. Farooq himself has been under pressure in the past few months. The charges of misgovernance have begun to stick and both the BJP and the Congress view the special session as a diversionary tactic. "He is trying to deflect attention from his own misrule. How will autonomy help address this or the issue of alienation?" asks BJP MLA Chaudhary Pyare Singh, adding, "If his Government represents the people of the state, why did the NC get only 9 per cent of the votes in the parliamentary elections held last year?" Clearly, Farooq is using the report to get back at the Centre for trying to start a dialogue with the Hurriyat Conference. He went to the extent of saying that if the Centre was willing to talk to secessionist forces, why was it not prepared to discuss autonomy. "Some day, somebody will have to take the bull by the horns. Autonomy is well within the confines of the Indian Constitution. I have to live with the people and Delhi wants to reduce me to a zero," an angry Farooq told India Today. When he left for Delhi, Farooq was prepared not just for a discussion on the autonomy issue, but also on several other points which, according to him, reflect the Centre's stepmotherly treatment of the Centre. These include: There were proposals to set up software technology parks in Jammu and Srinagar. While the Jammu project has been cleared, Srinagar's proposal is stuck with the Union Home Ministry, says Farooq. The Cabinet was to decide on granting permission for international airports in seven cities. While six airports have been cleared, Srinagar's case is stuck. "Will terrorists fly in on international flights?" he asks. A belligerent Farooq also went to the extent of blaming the Home Ministry for engineering the agitation in Leh against his Government even though the local NC president, Sonam Narboo, also took part in the stir. "Autonomy is our legitimate right. I don't see why the skies fall when we raise this demand. There is no question of any bargaining," asserts Farooq. But his talks with Vajpayee will have a bearing on the resolution that the Assembly will finally adopt. The special session, which has been extended till early next week, is likely to endorse the report and forward it to the Centre. "The ball will then be in Delhi's court," says an NC leader. The special session of the Assembly was called because the NC felt the Centre was trying to place the report on the backburner. First introduced in the House in April last year, copies of the report were also sent to the Union Home Ministry. In what the NC sees as a delaying tactic, the Home Ministry wrote to the state Government in October last year seeking its views on the report. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Secretary Ashok Jaitley wrote back saying that it had been endorsed by the state Cabinet. Since then, says Jaitley, there has been "nothing in writing from Delhi". The special session has, for the moment, helped the Farooq Government in more ways than one. It has taken the attention away -- however temporarily -- from his lacklustre three-and-a-half-year rule. It has also allowed him to send a message to Delhi that if it cosies up to the Hurriyat Conference, it risks losing the support of the NC. Then again, he is positioning himself as one who is willing to take on Delhi, an emotion that goes down well with the people of Kashmir. But this combativeness may also reduce his support among the people of Jammu and Ladakh. With the state not due for elections for at least another two and a half years, Farooq may just return from Delhi and conclude the session flaunting a promise from the Centre that it is willing to set up a ministerial committee to discuss the autonomy report. In this round, Farooq has little to lose. |
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It
was an uncanny coincidence. On the morning of June 20, when Jammu &
Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah got into his car to go to the state
Assembly, the National Security Guards (NSG) personnel in charge of his
security refused to accompany him. They said they could not go in a car
that bore a party flag. The refusal could not have been more ill-timed.
For the flag on Farooq's car did not belong to a party. It was the flag of
the state of Jammu & Kashmir. And Farooq was going to attend a special
session of the Assembly on the controversial autonomy report.