I believe in promises that can be kept

ACROSS THE TABLE
Any claims of normalcy are premature. New Delhi wants to have one leader in every mohalla of Kashmir to create confusion. National Conference president OMAR ABDULLAH in an exclusive interview talks to GK senior correspondent ZULFIKAR MAJID about the present political scenario in the J&K, party’s strategy in coming elections.

Q: As president of opposition party how do you view present political crisis in the state?
I wouldn’t call it a political crisis. If there would have few years to go for elections and governor’s rule was imposed, then it would have been so. Anyways elections were due in October and, therefore I don’t see it as a crisis.
In first week of August anyway election code of conduct would have been in place, so in essence we lost three weeks. Yes, state government should have avoided it.

Q: Who is to be blamed for the present political instability?
Alliance partners Congress and Peoples Democratic Party who were unable to work together. But lions share of the blame must go to the PDP. They were the party to the decision (transfer of 800 kanals of forest land to SASB) but when they saw public anger they opposed the decision.

Q: Separatists and PDP blame NC for creating SASB. How would you defend your party?
The problem wasn’t with SASB, but with allocation of land. If problem was the creation of SASB, then protests would have been held in 2000. Why did the protests start only in 2000? Did you see any of the protesters shouting against SASB?

Q: Mainstream parties over the years claimed that normalcy in the state has returned and also claimed credit for that. Recent uprising has dented those claims to an extent. What is NC’s view now?
I can’t talk about other parties, but NC never claimed that normalcy has returned. There are regular encounters between militants and security forces. I regularly get information from my colleagues about movement of the militants. One reads about infiltration having gone up.
Politically also the climate gives us some cause of concern. There is no way that I will claim normalcy has returned. Any claims of normalcy are premature.

Q: Often both state and central government statements suggest that there are few hundred militants present in the state. But still there is huge presence of troops. Do you advocate for demilitarization.
Since they claim that infiltration is less, there statistics show violence is less, there statistics show that the number of militants are less, therefore there is case to be made for reducing the number of troops. But together state and central government have not been able to make any forward movement. There were loud noises of demilitarization, but it didn’t happen. It is part and parcel of the deceit that the coalition government carried out with the people here.

Q: Who is real representative of people of J&K. Mainstream parties or separatists?
No one can claim. Even the separatists can’t represent entire political structure of Kashmir.

Q: But recent mass uprising was the brainchild of separatists?
Recent uprising wasn’t there creation, but it was people’s anger against land transfer decision. It wasn’t something they had done, they grabbed it. If it would have something they had done, they wouldn’t have been forced to run their political activities from the mosques from last few years.

Q: Do you mean that separatists don’t have representative character?
No, I didn’t say that. I said they don’t completely represent.

Q: Then who can talk on behalf of people of J&K?
All of us. If I can go to Pakistan, so can they, if I can go to Delhi, so can they.

Q: Has Hurriyat conference a role to play in the K-issue?
Hurriyat Conference has a role to play. I don’t think it is either for you or for me to decide who has how much of a role. We have to accept that like Hurriyat, the NC, PDP, etc have representative character in J&K and a role to play.

Q: Do you mean that you can share the platform with separatists for the resolution of K-issue?
Why not. Some conferences we attend together. I have no problems in attending meetings with them.

Q: Do you think people follow you. If you will call for a strike like Hurriyat, will it have any impact?
It is a hypothetical question. If we give a call then we will see.

Q: Your father and NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah was out of state when Kashmir was burning on SASB land transfer issue. Your say.
He had anyways plans to go out. I’m the president of the party and it was my responsibility to see the party through the tough situation.

Q: Out of power you people talk about human rights violations. But in power your father and former chief minister once said that there isn’t enough space in jails for the militants, so kill them.
(Grew angry). No independent and impartial person will be able to produce the record that he (Dr Farooq) has said kill all the people in the jails. This is the problem with journalism. You people put words in the mouth of others so they utter it. At no point of time he has said kill all the people in jails. But you will publish this as part of your question and people will start believing it. Base the questions on facts.

Q: Number of times from 1996-2002, Dr Farooq urged the central government to bombard Pakistani Kashmir and destroy militant camp?
Are you asking me about Dr Abdullah’s statement or asking about party statement. NC as a party has never condoned HR violations, we have always condemned them. In Pathribal and other incidents enquires were ordered by the NC government. Whether in government or out of it, NC will never condone HR violations.
We didn’t make tall promises and then not fulfilled them. We never went to the people and tell them we will give you healing touch and then killed them. We never said that we will disband the SOG and then allow SOG to run as they like.

Q: NC lost its strongholds like Ganderbal to PDP in 2002. Any special strategy to get it back.
We aren’t going to disclose our strategy. Our strategy will be based on finding right candidates and going to the people with the message that we will deliver and hope that people will repose faith in NC.

Q: Have you finalized the list of candidates for 2008 elections?
There will be some new faces and some old faces.

Q: In 1996, NC fought elections with restoration of autonomy as main issue. What will be NC’s manifesto for 2008 elections?
Our political slogans don’t change with time (with reference to PDP). We are not like political parties who change their slogans from time to time. We continue to believe that restoration of autonomous Jammu and Kashmir where Union of India is responsible only for a select list of subjects is the idle solution which is applicable for both sides of Kashmir.

Q: You mean to say that autonomy is the only solution to K-issue?
I didn’t say the only, but I said the best solution. Others may come up with other solutions.

Q: But your autonomy proposal was rejected by then Atal Baehari Vajpayee led NDA government in 2000 of which you were a minister.
So what. How does it matter? United Nations has rejected your resolutions applicable to Kashmir. Not anybody less than the secretary general of the UN has rejected all Security Council resolutions pertaining to Kashmir. Has anybody in the Hurriyat Conference said we will stop talking about the SC resolutions? One rejection doesn’t mean that we stop talks. Yes, the NDA government didn’t respond the way they should have.

Q: In 2002 despite being the single largest party NC remained in opposition. If in coming elections you again can’t get majority, will you seek support either form PDP or Congress to form the government.
I’m not in the business of answering hypothetical questions. Let the people decide what sort of assembly they want, then the NC will decide.

Q: State Congress president, Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz recently indicated that his party wants to make good relations with NC.
There is no dialogue going on with the Congress party. The Congress party has made its decisions known when they sent an aeroplane with a joint director of the IB to Mehbooba Mufti for a meeting.

Q: Former RAW chief AS Dualt recently said that Omar Abdullah would be new CM.
Fortunately or unfortunately AS Dualt has no official position and therefore as any citizen of this country he is entitled to an opinion. It is nothing more than an opinion of one individual out of more than one billion people. I wouldn’t attach too much importance to that statement.

Q: When should be elections held in the state after the imposition of Governor’s rule?
As early as possible. We were hoping that the possibility of elections immediately after Amarnath Yatra and before Ramzan if possible. But that is unlikely now. We want as soon Eid is over elections should be held.

Q: There is a feeling that NC was lenient towards Congress and harsh towards PDP during last six years.
Yes that is true. Simply because PDP’s politics is based on political vendetta, Congress party’s isn’t.

Q: Is PDP a local threat to NC?
Congress is threat to NC in both Jammu and Kashmir. But Congress doesn’t run its politics on the basis of political vendetta like PDP.

Q: When former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad withdrew confidence motion in assembly on Monday he said that members from opposition parties wish to vote in favour of Congress, but he doesn’t want to put them in trouble as they might have to go against party whip. Were any of your MLAs going to vote against the whip?
He (Azad) never said it that he doesn’t want to put opposition members in trouble. I was in the assembly. What he said was that he doesn’t want to put some members into trouble. There was absolutely no problem with NC members.

Q: Which are the safe pockets of NC in the state?
That you will come to know when results of 2008 elections are declared.

Q: Will you contest from Ganderbal constituency?
Again you will know that when the party announces its mandate.

Q: What is the manifesto of NC this time?
Again you will know when we will release it. Obviously there will be political, social and economical aspect. It will be based on realistic promises, you won’t see promises like two jobs to each family, etc etc, because these aren’t the realistic promises.

Q: But you have recently promised one job for each family.
No, I haven’t. I have said that we will first seek to give jobs to those households where there is no employed. We have also said that we are looking for possibility of giving stipend to educated unemployed youth who go into training programmes with ITI and others.

Q: Senior NC leader Ali Muhammad Sagar recently said that New Delhi is creating confusion in Kashmir by creating smaller political parties.
These aren’t Sagar Sahib’s words. These are late Sheikh Abdullah Sahib’s words. He had warned people of Kashmir that New Delhi wants to create one leader in every mohalla. And that is what they are doing. Some people can’t win a seat outside their own assembly constituency and they are being projected as leaders of Kashmir. There is an effort made to dilute the voice of the people here by creating more and more so-called leaders here

Q: Is NC target of both New Delhi and Islamabad?
Fortunately for NC we have very good relations with Islamabad and very cordial relations with the New Delhi and therefore I would say that we are not target of both.

Q: But in the last 19-years of conflict NC has lost most number of workers and leaders. Reasons.
Because the separatists view the NC biggest threat. It isn’t New Delhi or Islamabad.


(Greater Kashmir Op-Ed Page, July 24, 2008)