Despite differences in the party over whether to contest the by-election from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat or not, National Conference president and three-time Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah took the plunge. In an interview conducted before and after polling on April 9, which saw an abysmal turnout, Mr. Abdullah talks about the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s strained relationship with Pakistan, and the current challenge to secularism. Excerpts:
On April 9, the day of voting for the by-election, Srinagar witnessed unprecedented violence, which left eight civilians dead, and the lowest ever voter turnout. Were you expecting this? What was the cause of this rage on the streets?
The Peoples Democratic Party-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) alliance should acknowledge the disastrous consequences of its anti-people and power-hungry politics. The ruling coalition is responsible for shedding innocent blood during the bypolls. The elections should have been peaceful. This government has failed in doing so. The deaths only showed how much the situation has deteriorated in Kashmir.
Since 2002, mainstream parties contested polls on the issues of bijli, sadak, paani (electricity, roads, water) but in this election, political ideology was central to your campaign. What has changed?
Communal elements in India are changing the situation. The idea of diversity, even protected by the Constitution of India, is being destroyed. It has even changed the polity of the State. In 2002, unity and diversity was a strong element. The Congress, with a strong secular tradition, was in power then. There was no visible threat. Today the situation has taken a 360-degree turn. There is dictation being done in Delhi to make India a complete Hindu Rashtra, which was not there when the country came into existence. I see India heading towards disaster. If this policy of division and one-religion rule continues to dictate terms, I see nothing but a dark future. Development is not going to take place if there is unrest. As trouble increases, the GDP is going to fall.
You contested polls in 1996 when the situation was really tough. How good or bad is the situation in 2017?
We don’t face less tragedy now. The presence of guns and grenades may not be the same. However, today, at least you are able to put forth the idea before the people. But there is tremendous unrest, youth are throwing stones and people are dying, and that… conducive atmosphere is not there. I am surprised elections are being held. Why elections now when the gravity of tragedy is so big? As a party, we have no other option but to jump into the fray.
What is your sense of the ground situation?
I see tremendous alienation. The youth are up in arms. They do not fear for their lives. Every day incidents are occurring in the Valley. There is an atmosphere of destruction. There has been no progress on many fronts, whether it’s power projects, talking to Hurriyat leaders as promised in the joint agreement (between the PDP and the BJP), and creating a conducive atmosphere for India-Pakistan talks.
In your election rallies, you described the bypoll as one against tyranny and fascism. What threat does Kashmir face?
Kashmir is being threatened by communal forces emerging in the nation. It’s those forces we are fighting. Today, it is not about development or construction of tunnels, but those forces who are out to finish every other religion and have the supremacy of only one religion.
You lost the 2014 parliamentary election by a margin of 40,000 votes. How confident are you this time?
This election is not just important to me and my party but important [for] the survival of Kashmiriyat ; whether we will survive as an entity of a Muslim-majority State, which is under threat. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch, projected by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), is already recruiting youth to infuse the ideology of the RSS.
How important is the Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JeI) support for the National Conference-Congress alliance candidate in south Kashmir? Why did you seek their support?
JeI brought Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to power (in 2002) from south Kashmir. Today, the JeI has realised its folly of supporting it (PDP) as the PDP has loaded the RSS on its shoulders. The JeI is also seeing the danger. The time has come for the JeI to support those forces that are going to fight the elements supporting communal politics.
The JeI, in fact, has reacted to your statements saying it will support you only if you take “concrete measures” for the welfare of Islam.
Yes, I am fighting not only for Islam but for the very existence of people of the entire country. People are going to suffer at the hands of these communal elements. Two young people bring their herd to a market (in Jharkhand) and goons hang them by the tree. They are saying they will put their gods’ pictures in the mosques. They want to thrust their code on us. Where is the Constitution of India?… Muslims of Kashmir have never been communal. Neither does Islam teach us communalism. It teaches us brotherhood and respect for other religions.
Your party too was in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the past. How is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dispensation different from that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee?
Mr. Vajpayee was a man from the RSS but he realised [that] if India has to survive, then everyone has to survive. His thinking was totally different. He wanted to see India strive forward with all religions. The present dispensation is completely different.
Mr. Modi too refers to Mr. Vajpayee’s phrase of Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat to address the Kashmir problem.
Mr. Modi doesn’t believe in it. These are mere words. We have seen nothing in these years to prove that Mr. Modi is moving towards that. If he believed in Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat , then why doesn’t he talk to the Hurriyat? They too are part [of the] Kashmir polity. You may not agree to a hundred things of the Hurriyat, but at least you can agree to some of the things which may bring this tragedy to an end. Has there been any solid move by the Centre to start a dialogue with Pakistan? Just visiting the Pakistan Prime Minister on his birthday does not make any difference. The Centre has to grapple with the situation in Kashmir. And Pakistan is a part of it. You will never have peace here unless we are able to bring Pakistan on board.
Do you have any road map on how India and Pakistan can get closer?
Let’s hope I win. My role will be to rope in all the elements in the Valley for a common agenda that could be presented to both India and Pakistan. Second, I will unite the Opposition in India to face jointly the communal threat.
Of late, the U.S. is also offering mediation on Kashmir. How do you see this move ?
India has always believed Kashmir has to be resolved bilaterally. We also agreed with that. After so many years nothing has been achieved by India and Pakistan. We feel today that if India makes no positive moves towards resolving the problem with Pakistan, we stand for U.S. mediation to come to an agreement as they did over the water dispute. It was settled by an American. It seems the time has come where America is able to settle this one too.
Your party is for autonomy as a political solution and, in the past, demanded turning the Line of Control into an international border. Where does the National Conference stand now?
On autonomy, we stand where we were. It has been our stance from the beginning. The Centre has eroded Article 370, but if you want peace in the Valley, you have to go back to the position of 1953. My mother’s body was lying in this garden (in 2000) and the then Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee, and Home Minister L.K Advani came here. We were leaving the coalition but they asked us not to leave and promised to discuss autonomy. They appointed K.C. Pant, then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (in 2001), who held a meeting and came to no conclusion. Later, BJP leader Arun Jaitley was on it and the government fell. Our report is still lying with the BJP and they have to one day grapple with this. As far as the border is concerned, that is also Kashmir and this side is also Kashmir. Let’s make the LoC a permeable border so that it’s easy for people to trade and meet relations. This wound should get some healing.
Your political career spans four decades. All these years did you ever feel that the Kashmir problem was getting closer to a solution? Did you ever witness a peaceful Kashmir?
The discussions with former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf made us hopeful. We thought a solution was possible in the four-point formula. A former Pakistan Foreign Minister told me in Delhi that a solution was in hand. I met them abroad also. At that time, they were hopeful that a resolution would come.
When you look back in history, which event pains you the most — 1953 when Sheikh Abdullah was arrested, or 1975 when an accord was signed between Sheikh Abdullah and Indira Gandhi, or 1984 when your government was toppled?
In 1953, I was too young but I still spoke at meetings and was arrested for a month. The worst was 1984 when a legitimate government elected by the people was toppled by buying our own people. That pains me even today. The Centre always treated my father and me with suspicion. They are paying the price now for what they have done to us.
Your father stood for values like democracy, secularism and equality and supported the Accession with India.
No, my father has nothing to do with the Instrument of Accession, which was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh. My father got Article 370 incorporated. The start was good but soon my father realised that the ground beneath this democracy is rather shaky.
Which political decision have you regretted the most since you started your political career?
I don’t think I took any such political decision. I always kept fighting and lost power because I stood for them. The Resettlement Bill (of 1983) did not go well with the people in Delhi and I paid a price in 1984.
