FairPoint: Abdullah’s autonomy program is launched, Rahul Gandhi becomes a silent partner

New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS): In its election manifesto, the National Conference has promised restoration of Article 370, autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, amnesty for prisoners and encouragement of dialogue between India and Pakistan. All these promises will no doubt cheer the separatists and Pakistan in particular, but raise questions over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s decision to ally with the NC.

This manifesto is not surprising as history has shown how the NC was instrumental in fanning separatist sentiments that eventually led to terrorism in 1988 when Farooq Abdullah was the chief minister of the erstwhile state. It was under his tenure that Kashmir was engulfed by terrorism and Pakistan almost succeeded in its nefarious designs on Kashmir.

The Abdullah dynasty claimed that Jammu and Kashmir could have joined Pakistan in 1947 if it had wanted to, but Sheikh Abdullah played a decisive role in the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. Although Sheikh Abdullah was not the sole factor in the 1947 decision, history shows that the dynasty, after the Instrument of Accession of 1947, did everything to keep the state separate from the Indian Union and also created a mechanism to strengthen and keep the separatist sentiment alive.

The special status of Article 370, which was imposed by a presidential decree in 1954, over time became a weapon not only for Nehru’s friend Sheikh Abdullah, but later, his successors used it to create an exclusivity in which other religions and pro-India forces sought to be curbed.

Sheikh Abdullah was instrumental in the formation of the All Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front in 1955. He campaigned vigorously for the referendum and the idea of ​​Kashmiri independence and also carried out anti-India propaganda. The campaign was of such magnitude that the seeds of separation were etched in the very minds of the people. The Front was banned in 1971 and finally dissolved in 1975 with the cadres returning to the NC.

What we see in Kashmir before 2019 has its roots in the seeds sown by Sheikh Abdullah. He created and skillfully shaped an ideology that kept Kashmiriism predominant in the minds of Kashmiris. He made Kashmiris believe that Hindustan lies beyond the Banihal Tunnel and can never be “in” Kashmir.

Interestingly, there was this Jammu Kashmir Plebiscite Front (JKPF), the parent organisation of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founded by Maqbool Bhat, which unleashed a reign of terror in the Valley.

Like his father, Farooq Abdullah is a staunch supporter of autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. It was during his tenure as prime minister that the valley was hit by the wave of terror in 1988. Minority communities were targeted. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave the valley. Assassinations and massacres took place.

In 2000, the NC government led by Farooq Abdullah passed a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly seeking to restore the pre-1953 constitutional position, which among other things involved a Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir. The resolution was rejected by the then central government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 2016, when the NC was in opposition, it again moved a similar resolution, urging the House to ask the Centre to reconsider the autonomy resolution. In 2017, at the party’s delegate session in Srinagar, the autonomy resolution was again passed.

The party has been demanding complete autonomy for the state in almost all its public meetings. Now that Article 370 has been abrogated, this demand is being voiced strongly in all forums. Omar Abdullah, a third generation member of the Abdullah dynasty and a former chief minister, also believes that autonomy is the only way out of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict and is a pragmatic solution.

Omar Abdullah, while releasing the manifesto for the 2024 assembly elections, promised to implement the autonomy resolution adopted by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 2000. He said the resolution was a milestone in the people’s struggle for their identity.

With North Carolina being clear in its platform on autonomy, restoration of Article 370 and negotiations with Pakistan, the question is: does Rahul Gandhi agree with this?

Rahul’s great-grandfather, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, also trusted Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, but later realising his machinations, dismissed him as Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and later arrested and imprisoned him for anti-India activities. Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister, dismissed Farooq Abdullah’s government in July 1984 for failing to stop anti-India activities. Rajiv Gandhi managed to reconcile the Abdullahs and Rahul Gandhi seems to be carrying on that legacy today.

The NC is a partner of the Congress in the INDIA bloc and now in Jammu and Kashmir, the two have joined hands to come to power. The BJP has questioned the Congress’s stand on the NC manifesto. But the Congress has maintained a calculated silence on the issue. Does this imply that the Congress supports the restoration of Article 370 or the Abdullahs’ autonomy agenda? The Congress has not denied it so far. The issue could land Rahul Gandhi in trouble.

(You can contact Deepika Bhan at [email protected])