Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy is a man of style. He can be subtly diplomatic and brutally frank. Trained in the school of turbulent politics of National Conference under the leadership of his father, the colossus of a man in State politics, Farooq is a politician to the hilt, sharp to grasp ground reality and quick to react adequately.
But what makes him the tallest among contemporary leaders is his nationalism. He is an Indian and a patriot by conviction. No other J&K leader is as clear-headed as he is in regard to the future of the State and our relations with Pakistan. Unlike most leaders of Kashmir, he has no cobwebs of confusion either about the finality of J&K as part of the Indian Union.
At a function of the armed forces in New Delhi, he spoke candidly on some burning issues of national concern which no national level politician would dare to speak. He said that the purchase of arms needed for the defence of the country has slowed down owing to the corruption that has become part of such deals. He believes that corruption syndrome set in with notorious Bofors deal. Dark and dismal clouds of Bofors deal never left the horizon of Indian politics ever since. Have not some of our big defence deals been dogged by deafening ruckus in the Parliament, angry swearing by the defence department, sadistic cajoling by party high commands, gibberish probing by CBI and even unsolicited sermonizing by the judicial organ? Where has Farooq gone wrong? Taking a pick at the power woes of J&K State, Farooq made the stunning revelations that his proposal of underground wiring was scuttled by lobbies with vested interest. Obstruction surfaced despite 70 per cent of power being stolen in J&K State. How do we expect power supply position to improve with the quantum of energy stolen? A lineman takes a bribe of fifty rupees from a consumer and allows theft of a thousand rupees from the state exchequer. Power deficit problem of J&K cannot be solved unless corruption is rooted out.
He cannot be refuted that widespread corruption has arrested the progress of the country. Supporting his contention, he said as minister for renewable source of energy he wanted to add five per cent ethanol to fuel but many lobbies opposed the move just because it would have deprived them of large but clandestine benefits. Farooq’s candid expression that corruption was canker eating into the vitals of the nation has to be taken as a warning. Nobody should take it lightly. He does not mean to take up cudgels with the government at the centre to which he is a party but as a public leader with live conscience he feels it his duty to call the a spade a spade. Anti-corruption movement initiated by some segments of civil society has met with opposition from some quarters that are not happy with loosing power or obstruction to vested interests. That does not minimize threat of disaster facing the country. Our economic development pace has slowed down; our security scenario whether in J&K or in the Maoist-Naxalite hotbed is not reassuring and our socio-political structure is under strain. If a veteran leader like Farooq Abdullah speaks the bitter truth, let us accept it and try to stem the rot. This is precisely the meaning of Farooq’s message. He has given a call for waking up and asked why a country of one billion people has not been able to win a gold in the Olympic? It is not because our people are incapable of winning laurels on the ground; it is because our entire polity is corrupted and moth eaten.
Like many at home, Pakistani authorities, too, will not be very happy with the words of Dr. Farooq Abdullah. He has said that today the Frankenstein of terror hitherto patronized and divinized by Pakistan is looking at its originator with eyeball to eyeball stance. His expressions about Pakistan are also instructive to the separatists and dissidents in J&K State, who have adopted ostrich-like attitude. Those who feel that they will find redemption in throwing their lot with Pakistan are living in fool’s paradise.
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