Taking Mufti’s mission forward

Zafar Choudhary
Barely an hour after the news of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s demise was made public, the co-founder of his Peoples Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Muzaffar Hussain Baig made a most significant statement which merits attention of everyone who followed Mufti’s path over last 15 years. Baig said, ‘the real challenge for us is to take Mufti Sahab’s mission forward’. He took a pause and then reiterated with an added emphasis, ‘now since Mufti Sahab is no more, we need to work on his mission with more vigor and renewed commitment’. So what exactly was Mufti’s mission and why is it important to take that forward? Jammu and Kashmir, where Mufti practiced his politics for 57 long years, is perhaps the most complex political theater not only in India but also in a wider regional context. This state continues to remain a top political and security priority for any government at the Centre. The kind of mainstream power politics, of which Mufti was a part for many decades along with the illustrious Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, appeared to be a failed project with the collapse of political institutions in face of Pakistan backed separatist militancy late 1980s onwards. At the zenith of his political career as Home Minister of India, Mufti watched from close quarters the wrenched approach of New Delhi and the deficit of political trust and failing administrative governance back in the state. The launch of Peoples Democratic Party in 1999 was no ordinary power driven ambition. It was project designed to address multilayered sentimental, political and economic issues and steering the state towards a lasting stability –the underlying principles embodied Mufti Sayeed’s mission which is now required to be taken forward in the interest of ‘ends’ he wanted to achieve. A staunch believer of Jammu and Kashmir being integral part of India, Mufti was convinced that a way out will have to be found out within the territorial and constitutional status quo. Therefore, his mission encompassed the following three things. A: removing the trust deficit between New Delhi and Srinagar. He wanted to achieve this through good governance and by reconfiguring all those things which were seen by people as affront to their honour, dignity and freedom of expression. B: deepening the engagement within three regions of the state by way of, firstly, giving every region and its due and then making people equal stakeholders in the future of state. C: Supporting détente between New Delhi and Islamabad and loosening up the Line of Control for travel, trade and tourism. While with Congress or in Janta Dal he couldn’t have conceived and pursued his mission with independence. The formation of PDP was, therefore, most appropriate way to change the political narrative. As happens with every leader in a complex political cultural, Mufti’s legacy shall always remain disputed but that was the last thing he ever worried. Towards the south of Pir Panchal many saw him as a soft peddling separatist while the Valley’s separatist bastions would hold him responsible for, above everything else, facilitating coming into power of such a party which is ideologically committed to doing away even with special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mufti’s ideology
The facets of the post-1999 mission listed above made up Mufti’s core political ideology which turned him into a statesman. An alliance of PDP with the perceived ideological rival BJP had the potential of annihilating Mufti’s political stature back in the Valley. But he took that bold step in recognition of the fact that Jammu region has expressed itself differently and reluctance to honour this expression could break the state apart.
As Mehbooba Mufti succeeds her father’s mantle, the party and the Government she is about to head needs to embody Mufti’s boldness.  For the political parties to survive challenges and stay relevant there has to be a core binding force that keeps people of different statures and backgrounds together. In some case it is a political ideology that makes people to work together as a team and attracts their hundreds and thousands of workers to cling to that central idea. In other cases it is a personality of the leader commanding respect of the cadres and therefore keeping them together. The Congress, for example, revolved around the Nehru-Gandhi family as central personality but there is also shade of ideology drawn from the Gandhian and Nehruvian principles which offers a roadmap on all forms of governance ranging for economy to foreign relations. The BJP is made up of the rightwing Hindutva nationalism ideology which had emerged over last three decades as a robust force multiplier. Among the regional forces, the Bahujan Samaj Party, for example, caters to the socially downtrodden communities and, therefore, has a constituency to grow. Some other parties like the Nationalist Congress Party and Trinamool Congress are essentially personality driven and they face challenge of survival after the charisma of Sharad Pawar and Mamta Banerjee fades. Look at Shiv Sena, which has a central ideology veering around the Maratha sub-nationalism but the driving force was always the personality of Bal Thakrey. The party suffered split even in the lifetime of Thakrey and it is waning out after his demise. PDP’s life is just a quarter of the Shiv Sena’s and the central force which held the party together is gone.
Is there any political ideology Peoples Democratic Party could be identified with? Sadly, none! The self rule document, which many people see as PDP’s is ideology, is basically a proposal, and nothing beyond that. The only way forward for the Peoples Democratic Party to be able to survive as vibrant political force in face of enormous challenges is to base its foundations firmly on Mufti’s political ideology. In regionally polarized and, of late, communally sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti’s ideology is most difficult to follow. The one world description for Mufti’s ideology would reconciliation which transcends all shortsighted political considerations. This ideology will have to become the core of PDP’s and the PDP-BJP government’s conduct to be able to take Mufti’s mission forward.
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