Mehbooba Praises Modi, Ridicules Rahul

Is a BJP-PDP pre-poll alliance really possible?

Mehbooba Mufti has done it again. In the face of how sensitive Kashmiris are about Narendra Modi – a divisive, communal figure they see drenched in the blood from the Gujarat pogrom, Mehbooba Mufti has heaped praises on Modi – this time out rightly glorifying him as a strong, decisive leader. And like last time, Mehbooba Ji has praised Modi Ji at an exclusive event in Delhi – while she might understandably continue to posture differently in the Valley. While most regional parties across India are choosing to remain ambiguous about Modi, Mehbooba Mufti has clearly indicated that PDP – despite being a regional party from India’s only Muslim-majority State – is open to exploring the ends of a political flirtation with the Hindu Right Wing.

Speaking at the Idea Exchange Programme at the Indian Express in New Delhi – in yet another clear attempt at wooing BJP into a pre-poll alliance with her party in J&K – Mehbooba Mufti has gone above and beyond the call of duty to praise the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate. Mehbooba Ji has suggested that Modi has the power, will and authority to take certain “tough” decisions on Kashmir. She has however, understandably chosen not to elaborate on what these “tough” decisions could be.

While speaking at a rally in Jammu recently, Narendra Modi had given two clear indications. One – that he is trying to reach out to partners within the State’s polity and two – that he is committed to abrogate Article 370 and remove the State’s special status. While the first indication, in light of PDP’s repeated pro-Modi statements, is making more and more sense now – the second pledge is being seen as the “tough” decision that Mehbooba Mufti has now publicly alluded to for the first time.

In 2011, Mehbooba Mufti had kicked up quite a storm in Kashmir when Sushma Swaraj of the BJP had quoted Mehbooba’s praise of Narendra Modi at the National Integration Council (NIC) Meet in 2011 at Delhi. Although the event was closed to the media, the speeches made at the NIC were posted online by the Ministry of Home Affairs on its official website. Unaware of this, Mehbooba Mufti impulsively denied the veracity of the claim by Sushma Swaraj that even minority leaders supported Modi. Sushma Swaraj then went on to present the transcript of Mehbooba Mufti’s NIC speech where she had clearly praised Modi and stated that people, especially minorities were “looking forward” to his style and type of politics.

Speaking at the Idea Exchange Programme a few days ago, Mehbooba Mufti has reiterated that – (the question of what the people are looking forward to best left to the people) – the PDP is clearly looking forward to Modi in the PM’s seat. PDP has of late been increasingly expressive about this “looking forward” perspective in the context of a Modi led country – “looking forward” to Modi’s “style and type” of politics, his authority and will to take “tough” decisions.

Mehbooba Mufti has also done something else this time – one that clearly brings to fore a growing animosity that the party harbors for Congress and especially its Vice President, Rahul Gandhi. PDP sees Rahul Gandhi as a prime reason for close, all-weather ties between NC and Congress in J&K and has recently started to take personal pot shots at the young Congress leader, who in all probability is slated to be the Congress Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 polls. Mehbooba Mufti, at the Idea Exchange has lashed out at the UPA and Rahul Gandhi – ridiculing Rahul Gandhi’s recent forefront-efforts against corruption by comparing them to “Sheila Ki Jawani” Item Songs in a film, which has by and large “flopped”.  This is the first time Mehbooba Mufti has openly accused the UPA of failure.

There is a growing opinion that this new avatar of PDP – one that’s getting increasingly cozy with Modi and unabashedly critical of the UPA – signals both the end of PDP’s efforts to break the NC-Conress ties in J&K while also indicating the start of PDP’s efforts to woo the BJP into a pre-poll alliance with the party in J&K ahead of the Assembly Elections. What happens in due course remains to be seen.

Mufti Sayeed is a staunch integrationist and his own personal political track record in the Congress testifies to his behind-the-scenes opposition to Article 370. What is PDP’s offering to BJP from their side of the bargain? Is PDP willing to support BJP in abrogating Article 370 as a bargaining chip to try and enter into a pre-poll alliance with the party? That too – remains to be seen. Speculations however suggest that something is churning between the two parties. It was the BJP after all which had facilitated PDP’s sudden emergence onto the State’s political stage.

(Junaid Azim Mattu belongs to National Conference. Views are personal. Email at junaid.msu@gmail.com) 

Aam Aadmi – Empathize or Impersonate?

Don’t need impersonation or rhetoric

Politics is changing – the way it is done and the way it is perceived. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Is this solely because of the Aam Aadmi Party’s spectacular debut in Delhi? No, not solely. The voter is evolving, and in the context of Kashmir – so is the ‘non-voter’. This evolution is a result of disgruntlement with decades of status quo politics that has been inherited now by an intensely opinionated and articulate generation – a generation that refuses to conform to the traditional specter of politics, as we knew it. Something is churning at the grassroots level. And that churning and restlessness needs to acknowledged and respected. As political parties – we need to change from within to relate to the change outside.

However, rhetoric is the nemesis of change. There are two ways to deal with an evolved electorate – we either impersonate him by dressing in a certain way, speaking in a certain way and acting in a certain way – wearing masks of austerity and posturing as purists ordained by God to save the world. That, in my opinion, is the fastest and most effective way to show our contempt for the common man – by stereotyping him and undermining his intelligence. This ‘impersonation’ of the “aam aadmi” has already become nauseating. Reminds one of the inimitable R. K. Laxman’s common-man cartoon strips.

The common-man cannot be defined and suffocated into a convenient political mould. And how will impersonation translate into genuine change? How will rhetoric save the sinking ship?

The other way is empathizing with the common-man. The common-man needs empathy – not impersonation. The leaders don’t need to go to great heights to look like them and live like them. What the leaders need to do is work for them – day in and day out. What the leaders need to do is understand the rank pessimism that has engulfed the electorate and the need to do away with traditional, rusty, hierarchical partisan politics. The deliverance of change will be a derivative of how dynamic and imaginative political parties choose to become inside the four walls of their institutions.

I’m a big fan of the charismatic, affluent and blue-blooded John F Kennedy. I’m equally inspired by Jose’ Mujica – the President of Paraguay, popularly known as the “poorest President in the world”. Does a Mujica trump a Kennedy by default? No – absolutely not. Leadership is beyond the definitive games of curating a popular, synthetic brand-image – leadership is about effecting drastic, systemic changes that have long-term benefits – about leaving behind a legacy. And measuring that change can only be done on the basis of performance – not tall promises or rhetoric alone.         

As for newcomers and aspirants for leading the State, it is understandable that they cannot be measured and judged on the basis of performance. And that cannot be held against them. However, they should certainly be judged on the basis of their ideas and plans. For now, none of the new political formations and alternatives in J&K have defined their vision of reform – there are no policy papers, no concrete plans. Nothing. Just rhetoric and rhetoric about the need to reform the political system. And that too is a manipulative approach to exploit the empowering evolution that is taking place at the grassroots level – unfortunately an effective way to nip it too.  

And as for those who have already been prominent, powerful parts of the political dispensation since decades – they are duty-bound to justify their past actions as well as inactions on crucial policy fronts and simultaneously offer definitive and unambiguous solutions to the problems that confront us. That too has not happened.

Unfortunately the political engagement between established political entities in the State as well as in the entire country has been a typical tit-for-tat, acrimonious and negative quarrelling in newspapers and TV channels. Nothing discourages the common-man more. Nothing feeds the ocean of cynicism with greater efficiency.    

We are dealing with an educated generation with comparative perspectives and with an exposure that is unprecedented – both in scope and depth. Let us – irrespective of political divides and differences – respect the evolution that has taken place and engage with our citizens by involving them in shaping policy. That and that alone is what will satisfy the Aam Aadmi’s’ thirst for change.

(Junaid Azim Mattu belongs to the J&K National Conference. Ideas expressed are personal. Feedback at junaid.msu@gmail.com)

The Article 370 Debate

Roots, History and Story of Erosion

The BJP’s Prime Ministerial Candidate at a public rally in Jammu made some factually inaccurate, distorted remarks about Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Although Mr. Modi’s call for a “debate” on the Article indicated an unusual departure from the party’s traditional radical stance, this rather ‘positive development’ too was dashed on Thursday when BJP Spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri stated with an unambiguous clarity that the BJP would “scrap” Article 370 if voted to power at the center. While neither BJP nor any political party can scrap Article 370, I would like to take this opportunity to counter some domestic political distortions of history in the context of the erosion of the State’s special status. I will write a few more columns about the external dimensions and narratives surrounding Article 370.  

As most of us know, Article 370 of the Constitution of India grants a certain special status to the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Incorporated into the constitution by the Constituent Assembly of India in 1949, the Article was drafted by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and forms the definitive constitutional ‘bridge’ between the State of Jammu & Kashmir and the Union of India.

According to Article 370, the Indian Parliament requires the concurrence of the State Assembly for applying central laws in the State of J&K except those pertaining to defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications.

In its original form, which has hence unfortunately undergone considerable erosion due to various Presidential orders that have made most central laws applicable to J&K, the Article gave Jammu & Kashmir its own Prime Minister and ‘Sadar-e-Riyasat’, hence replaced by the nomenclatures of Chief Minister and Governor respectively.

On account of Article 370 certain separate laws govern the residents of the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The most debated in the now diminished list are the laws governing citizenship, residency and ownership and inheritance of property in the State.        

The contours and features of Article 370 were personally envisaged by Sher-e-Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to safeguard the State’s sense of identity and nationalism within the Union of India. Realizing that the State’s political, economic and strategic future and that of its citizens was best served and protected by acceding to the Union of India, Sheikh Sahib wanted certain “iron clad” provisions and conditions to accompany the accession. Sheikh Sahib was strongly opposed to such conditions and provisions being constitutionally categorized as “temporary provisions” and fought hard to change this till the very last moment.     

The story of the erosion of J&K’s special status can neither been explained by a demonization of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah nor through a persistent distortion of history. As stated by Dr. Mustafa Kamal, a significant part of this erosion was carried out through pliant governments in the State that were installed through surreptitious methods at frequent intervals. These self-righteous critics and self-proclaimed saviors of Kashmir have traditionally stayed silent about the roles played to this effect by the governments of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad (1953 to 1964), Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq (1964 to 1965) and Syed Mir Qasim (1971 to 1975) under the patronage of a particular national party. While Sadiq and Qasim were Congress leaders, Bakshi was as much a National Conference leader as much as Goneril and Regan were loving and obedient daughters to King Lear.  

While Bakshi’s run at power is an almost theatrically engrossing Shakespearian tale of opportunism, betrayal and cold-blooded deceit both with Sheikh Sahib and the people of Kashmir at large, Sadiq’s story is a narrative of how a Kashmiri leader appeased a nationalist Indian agenda of eroding J&K’s special status to operative perfection. As Sumantra Bose points out in his book, “Kashmir – Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace”, Sadiq – the founder of Congress in J&K, was a strong votary for the abolishment of Article 370 and was even invested with the responsibility of dismantling Jammu & Kashmir National Conference and integrating the “remnants” into the Indian National Congress. A. G. Noorani validates the same.

Pertinently Article 356 and 357 of the Indian Constitution were extended to the State of Jammu & Kashmir in December 1964 during the tenure of Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq of the Congress. This, inarguably the biggest single erosion of the State’s special status, did not happen at the behest of either National Conference or Sheikh Sahib but in fact in strong opposition to his continued efforts to safeguard the special status despite incarceration and persecution. Ironically, a certain leader whose late father was a Congress leader during this period in history has recently blamed Sheikh Sahib for the erosion of Article 370. Invoking H.P. Lovecraft, “From even the greatest of horrors, irony is seldom absent.”

Our demand for the restoration of autonomy and the eroded special status of the State is far from an “electoral pitch”. It is the continuation of a consistent battle to safeguard the identity and interests of our people. As far as distortions of history are concerned – there is a special place in history for such distorters – the inglorious footnotes and sidelines.  

(Views expressed are personal and not of the party I belong to. For feedback - junaid.msu@gmail.com)