Art 370: SAS Geelani "Mainstream" & National Political Parties:Lalit k kaul

 

SAS Geelani’s Take on Art 370 Vs “Mainstream” and National Political Parties

                                                              Lalit K Kaul

Anybody who understands the difference between the Chair of the Prime Minister (PM) and that of a Chief Minister (CM) would acknowledge that a PM is executive head of a sovereign Nation State and a CM is executive head of a state subordinate to its Nation State. Therefore a Constitution that governs a Nation State also governs its subject states and has a common flag, known as National Flag.

Therefore, the day in the year 1966, when the then PM of erstwhile J&K State, Sri Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq, was relegated to a position of CM; the Art 370 ceased to exist as did the then Constitution and flag for the erstwhile state. The final legitimacy to this momentous event, which was to redefine the political relationship between Indian Union and the then J&K state, was granted by Sri Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah by accepting to be the CM of the state. All reasonable minds with no political axe to grind would have known that Art. 370 was dead and dusted; but politicians who base their politics on falsehoods – and they are found in all political parties- were hell bent to keep the pot boiling; one brand of them swearing by “Special Status” and “Autonomy” and the other one swearing to abolish it.

Sri SAS Geelani’s take on Art 370:

In his interview to Kashmir Life on April 28, 2014, conducted by Muhammad Raafi, he said:

“Terming the statement of National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah about the article 370 as ridicules and politics of deceit, chairman Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Geelani Monday said that the article 370 is recorded only in papers and the father of Farooq Abdullah has buried this article in 1975, when he accepted chief-ministership instead of Prime-ministership and surrendered the plebiscite movement which was nourished with the hot blood, merely for the chair.” Hurriyat chairman said that it is a meaningless and needless statement of Farooq Abdullah that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has its own constitution and flag.

Any reasonable individual with a logical mind would totally agree with the above statement insofar as Art 370 is concerned. The question is: why did Mr. Geelani make such a statement?

He won the assembly elections in 1972, 1977 and 1987. Geelani, however, became an anti-election spearhead post 1990. So for 15 long years, Mr. Geelani had no issue with Sheikh Abdullah accepting CM chair in 1975, even while he belonged to Jamait e Islami outfit.

Under Operation Topac/Topaz as conceptualized by Zia Ul Haq (of Pakistan), the Jamait e Islami found their path for leading a secessionist movement against Indian State. Thus, Hurriyat came into existence which stood for J&K merger with Pakistan. So, everything that was Indian; every symbol of India in the erstwhile state including the Kashmiri Pandits and every Kashmir based political party which ostensibly stood for India, was to be branded as being against Kashmiri Muslims’ interests, their “identity” and their “Right to Self Determination”. Mr. Geelani did every possible thing under his command to keep the secessionist pot boiling in the Valley based on a political narrative that defied history and therefore the Instrument of Accession of the erstwhile princely state to India, as dictated by his masters in Pakistan.

With the secessionist movement on the decline- having degenerated into a mere act of mass killings of Pandits whenever opportunity afforded it- Mr. Geelani, having been disappointed with Farooq Abdullah and his party, brought out the last arrow from his armour to rouse people’s emotions against a party which had ruled the state for maximum number of years and hence the above quoted statement. But, it did not bring out the results that Mr. Geelani had hoped for. What goes to his credit is that he never addressed any political rally outside Valley; never toured the Valley to address people; looks like he had a pact with GOI/ state government that whenever he called for a rally he should be put under house arrest and that happened nine out of ten times; but what he succeeded in doing was to sacrifice gullible youth at the altar of Azadi from India, while enjoying cosy life at his residence and this his most ardent, faithful and obedient Hurriyat workers had realized; late in the day, though.

Why did Farooq Abdullah continue with “Special Status” Narrative?  

Mr. Geelani’s take on Farooq tells it all.

Terming Farooq Abdullah an opportunist politician, Geelani said, “he (Farooq) has a capability that he can change his statement 10 times a day. Nowadays, he is frequently mentioning the article 370 in his election rallies which is only an ‘election stunt’ and he tries to befool the innocent people.” 

Terming the part of the statement of Farooq Abdullah as a joke in which he said that the article 370 is the identity of Kashmir and National Conference will not permit any one to harm this article. The pro-freedom leader said, “If Farooq Abdullah and his party National Conference would be a little bit sincere and serious about the article 370, they would have restored this article to its original position before 1953, when they were having majority in the assembly, but they not only remained silent but when late Abdul Gani Lone and I jointly talked about such kind of bill, they made different excuses to put it aside,” Geelani said. 

It was not about just “to befool the innocent people” that Farooq held his narrative; it was more a vital part of his politics of blackmail that ensured funds transfer of astronomical size from the Centre ostensibly to “bring the alienated youth into Indian mainstream”.

Why did National Parties including BJP not confront Farooq on Art 370?

The “secular” political parties didn’t confront Farooq on Art. 370 as that would cost them Muslim vote bank in Parliamentary and Assembly elections because the entire Muslim community led by their religious leaders would have blindly trusted Farooq for his narrative.

& BJP ???

Late Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee had opposed Art 370 on the grounds that a sovereign Nation can’t have two prime ministers, two constitutions and two flags. A value based politician that he was, ended up with sacrificing his life for the cause that was sacrosanct to him. He was poisoned, while in jail.

The Jan Sangh/BJP faced with the narrative of “secular” parties including the National Conference of J&K, post 1966, latched on to the slogan of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee – “ Ek desh mein do Vidhan, do Pradhan aur do Nishan nahi challengein [There cannot be two constitutions, two prime ministers and two flags in one nation]”.

The political farce played on the people of India was unparalleled when during formation of NDA, sometime in 1998, all would be constituents agreed not to keep abrogation of Art 370 in its Common Minimum Program (CMP). Sri A B Vajpayee who had been PM for 13 days (First stint) followed by 13 months (second stint), formation of NDA was his political genius that enabled BJP to form government at the Centre first time for five years. Ram Janam Bhoomi issue too was agreed to be shelved and therefore not a part of CMP. Thus indirectly all the political outfits-constituents of NDA- agreed upon that Art 370 was alive and in vogue as much as Ram Janam Bhoomi issue was!

When Sri Narendra D Modi became PM in 2014, he exhorted all political outfits (Valley based) to agree for a debate on Art 370, but that was met with fierce opposition from all; the self declared “Bhagat Singh” of Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti being the most vociferous one. May be that he wanted to bury the farce with mutual consent, but then that wasn’t to be. Finally, in his second tenure as PM, the BJP chose to bring to fruition Dr. Mukherjee’s supreme sacrifice and brought in the bill to abrogate Art 370; smart move: counter falsehood by falsehood and become hero in the eyes of the people by claiming to fully integrate the state with the Indian Union. The move was followed by reorganizing the erstwhile state into two Union Territories; a master stroke that pulled the rug from under the feet of China, Pakistan, the “mainstream” and the Hurriyat.

The Horse is sought to be kept alive:

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) election manifesto is “if voted to power the alliance will restore Art 370”. Is it a political gimmick that will catapult PAGD to power; only time will tell; but Sri SAS Geelani’s statement need to be kept in mind “If Farooq Abdullah and his party National Conference would be a little bit sincere and serious about the article 370, they would have restored this article to its original position before 1953, when they were having majority in the assembly ...”

Farooq may do it now, if PAGD comes to power. Even if PAGD doesn’t get comfortable majority on its own, it shall join hands with AAP to form the government in the UT. That AAP is a pro Muslim party, is deeply entrenched in the minds of Muslims and its political agenda is no different from PAGD or Hurriyat (as was clear from AAP role in anti CAA hooliganism) and therefore it may win impressive number of seats in the UT.

The advantage is to PAGD and AAP as BJP has failed to counter the narrative that on 5^th August, 2019 the J&K was robbed of its “Special Status” that caused loss of its “identity”; having countered falsehood with the falsehood and achieved full integration of the UT through an Act of Parliament. That Geelani’s wish may come true, cannot be completely ruled out.