*J&K situation lot closer to normal
New Delhi, Mar 8: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that UPA picture is not rosy as of now and it might not be able to grab the Prime Minister’s post for third consecutive term in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking at India Today conclave here, Omar, however, said that there is no NaMo (Narendera Modi) wave either in the country. “NaMo myth would soon be busted,’’ he added.
He expressed displeasure on often being asked if he felt like a Kashmiri or Indian first to which he said he felt both with equal passion.
“One has to constantly prove nationalist credentials being a Kashmiri. Arvind Kejriwal or Akhilesh Yadav are never queried on their identity or nationality so why am I ?” he asked.
He admitted that Kashmir has had a troubled accession with the Indian State and there were political and security problems in the State. However, now things were looking up for sidelining of cynical politicians.
On the election front, Mr Abdullah said, “NDA and NC alliance in the next elections is a distant possibility now with NDA ideology completely changed. “NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee was vibrant, formed friendly policies and improved the image of the country worldwide. But NDA of today harps on religious issues which are not acceptable to us.”
On India’s rocky relations with Pakistan, he said, “Pakistan’s outlook is Kashmir centric while India sees the Kashmir issue in the gamut of other problems and wants good economic and political ties. All issues need to be resolved amicably.”
On his re-election, the Chief Minister said, “I would try my best to address all the issues. Would try for Job generation, bringing tourism to Kashmir and return of Kashmiri Pandits but for these to see the light of the day central assistance is required.
Omar expressed regret that BJP was making withdrawal of sedition charges against Kashmiri students in Meerut an election issue.
Omar argued that if youngsters from any other part of the country would have cheered for Pakistan, it would not have been noticed. “But the fact is that these people are from Kashmir automatically changes the context,” he said.
Omar said the students should not be confused about their identity but even if they are confused, it does not call for slapping of sedition charge.
“The university has taken administrative action against them. And it should have been allowed to rest there,” he said.
The Chief Minister said his worry now was that the BJP was making it an election issue. “67 kids becoming pawn to what is turning out to be pretty messy election is pretty unfortunate,” he said.
He was referring to the recent incident where Kashmir students were slapped with sedition charges for cheering for Pakistani cricket team during the recent match with India but the charges were later withdrawn by the UP Government.
Omar also categorically rejected the idea of joining the NDA alliance after the general elections and made it clear that his party National Conference was an ally of NDA earlier only because of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“Our decision to join with NDA was only because of Vajpayee. We don’t see anybody in BJP today who is coming even close to what he was and therefore, the question of National Conference aligning with NDA simply does not arise.”
Talking about the general situation in the State, the Chief Minister said the situation in J&K may not be normal but they are beginning to be a “lot closer to be normal”.
Asked what would be his message for young Kashmiris, Omar, 43, said “I want to take out the uncertainty in their lives. The fact that they have been brought up on the diet of uncertainty — uncertainty about the future of Kashmir, uncertainty about their own future.”
The Chief Minister said that slapping of sedition charges against the Kashmiri students in Meerut was “over-callous”.
“While what they did was misguided, I would go as far as saying that what they did was wrong. On one hand they are taking scholarship from the Indian Prime Minister and on the other hand cheering on like this.”
But having said that, the Chief Minister said cheering for a cricket team is not illegal. “It is this what makes this country great. I doubt whether something like this would be tolerated in our immediate neighbourhood.
“But it is the way we value our right to speech and if their free speech involved cheering another team so be it. I mean when our people go to Pakistan and Pakistani cheer Indian team we absolutely feel really great about it,” he said.
To a question whether he feared that if BJP Government came to the Centre it would abolish Article 370, Omar made it absolutely clear “they can’t touch Article 370 without the consent of the State…. It is a convenient tool that they (BJP) use during election and even shy away from discussion.”
He referred to BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s speech in Jammu earlier this year where he had sought a discussion on the Article 370 to see whether it was beneficial or a burden on the state.
“…And no sooner I replied back that I am ready for a discussion, name the time and the place and I will be there, the answer from the other side came that he is too busy and anyway you (Omar) are not important enough.
“So if that be the case, then that shows how seriously they want to discuss the issue,” he said.
He rejected a suggestion that there was a “Modi wave” but said there was definitely some effect.
“A wave would be what you saw Rajiv Gandhi get after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, that is a wave and that is certainly not what Mr Narendra Modi is trying to get in this Parliamentary elections.”
He said there was enthusiasm among BJP cadre that was translating into more sort of visible election activity on the part of the BJP from which he will probably benefit.
Omar said that the final results may not be good for UPA but things can turn around. “I wish I had a crystal ball but I don’t,” he said on the possible poll outcome.
Asked about the lessons learnt during his stint as the Chief Minister, Omar said that “everyday of this job, one learns” but the biggest lesson for him was that no problem is too small to be ignored.
He admitted that at the beginning of his term, he was slightly dismissive of some of the issues and said that the 2010 unrest was the “worst” period of his life.
“I soon learnt that those smaller problems can quickly accumulate into one grand problem…Such as the summer of 2010. That has been for me the worst period of my life I wouldn’t even say of my career.
“The summer of 2010 pretty much consumed me in every way possible. It did, it did change me. There is still a period of time that I have not gotten over. And I don’t ever feel that I will ever.
“It’s not easy to go through that time when you are overseeing administration….But fortunately the good times over that situation prevailed and we had a few good years after that,” Omar said and thanked the “good people” around him especially his father and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah who always guided him.
He said there were times in the State when a person, who left home in the morning, was not sure whether he or she will come back alive in the evening.
“The normalcy is returning. They are beginning to see a time which again I will say is not normal but we are a lot closer to be normal…. If one can remove that uncertainty from the youngsters that could be the biggest contribution one can make,” Omar said.
There is a need to build a “fear of consequences” within laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) so that they are not misused by the Army, Omar said.
Talking on wide-ranging issues here today at the two-day India Today conclave, Omar also dismissed suggestions mainly coming from Army that withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan will have bearing on Kashmir’s internal security.
The Chief Minister, who has been advocating partial withdrawal of AFSPA from areas more peaceful in the State, did agree that as long as Army was involved in internal security duties, it needed a legal cover to operate.
“So long as you are using Army for internal security duty, they need legal cover to operate. I think we need to differentiate between legal cover and impunity.
“The sort of cover they get now is they can do whatever they believe without fear of consequences. I think that fear of consequences has to be built back into the system,” Omar said.
Omar along with the then Home Minister P Chidambaram had raised the issue with Central leaders many a time but even his proposal for partial withdrawal of AFSPA hit a road block from Defence Ministry which, on advice of Army, red flagged it.
Even the Administrative Reforms Committee favoured withdrawal of AFSPA and drafting of a new law with certain checks and balances.
Omar appeared optimistic on the issue. “I am sure we will be able to withdraw some rules,” he said.
Omar rejected the suggestion made by Army at various forums that withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan will have an adverse impact on his State.
“I don’t buy that argument at all. The reason why I don’t buy this argument is that so far we have been taking credit for whatever improvement has taken place and now if we are going to blame Americans for the deterioration, then it means that improvement was because of their actions as well, which I refuse to accept,” the Chief Minister said.
“Therefore, if the Americans withdraw from Afghanistan, it will have very limited consequences for the State which has been seeing good years on anti-terrorism front.”
On India and Pakistan relations, Omar sought to draw a comparison between the two nations. “I don’t think India’s relationship with Pakistan is centred around Kashmir” but Pakistan’s relationship with India certainly is focused on Kashmir.
“They (Pakistan) have uni-focal dimension sort of relationship with India…. For them Kashmir is everything and everything else is secondary. It is not the same for us.
“While we believe that J&K is an important issue and it needs to be resolved, it need not be the only issue that dogs our relations. There are host of other issues that needs to be resolved,” he said. (Agencies)
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