While this was the side-kick of the overall slanging match, the party opened its mouth against Army too. This too pertained to Pulwama. Ignoring for a moment that Omar Abdullah presided over the Unified Headquarters of which Army is one member, party spokesman Tanveer Sadiq accused Army of ‘subverting’ peace efforts and advised it skip repeating “mistakes that led to earlier spells of mass unrest.” In the garb of AFSPA, Sadiq said, Army cannot simply go on doing what it wants and by such actions Army was only making things difficult for the proponents of peace. Asserting that Pulwama-like incidents were ‘totally unacceptable’, NC said it would not tolerate ‘atrocities against civilians’.

Mehbooba MuftiNot only this, NC went a step ahead and blamed Army for 2010 uprising. “A series of tragic events resulted in the sort of protests on the streets of the Valley that year, and the trigger for these protests was the fake encounter that took place in North Kashmir’s Machil area where Army killed three innocent civilians branding them as infiltrators.”

“The cases like Machil and Pathribal resonate in the Valley, the wounds of which are yet to be healed,” said Tanvir, adding, “If Army doesn’t learn from its past mistakes, then we are sorry to say that they are only making things worse for the people who have sacrificed a lot for restoration peace in the Valley.”

= While Tanvir is the new Army basher, he is not the only one. Chief Minister’s uncle, Dr Mustafa Kamal, has already termed Army as “the biggest enemy of peace”. Kamal believes there is no militancy anywhere in the state: “If there is one, it is being kept alive by the Army which is the biggest enemy of peace in the state.”

Kamal who has been talking in the historic context on Congress has become a real issue for the ruling party. Last time, he talked about Rahul Gandhi, saying he lacked a role in running J&K and was axed in October 2011. But the continued deteriorating health of Sheikh Nazir – the custodian of the party and the family, led the party to get Kamal in again in April 2012. But that did not change Kamal. His last was his statement that was adversely commented upon by Congress bigwigs including Ghulam Nabi Azad (whom he once termed ‘sweet poison’) when Kamal said: “Pakistan had offered a no-war pact with India. Why does India not agree to it? If India carries on with such attitude, then I have no hesitation in saying that our (Kashmir’s) biggest enemy is our own country, not Pakistan.” For Kamal, coalition is a compulsion, something which father and son may disagree.

Omar had to do his bit to clear the tensions. “Funny thing is I don’t need anyone to make things difficult for me when I have relatives to do it for me,” Omar wrote on twitter. “They say never work with animals and children. I think it’s safe to add relatives to that list as well.”

While all these statements would be taken as simple “difference of opinion”, it is actually addressing the NCs traditional constituency in Kashmir. NC workers on ground have never been comfortable with NC seemingly emerging a Congress extension. All these right noises do address that constituency.

Political analysts believe that NC is using double edged sword; on one side being part of both central and state governments and on other making effort to maintain relevance to people of state by talking about issues which otherwise is the domain of opposition parties. “It is mockery, same party while enjoying the power accuses Army and Congress. It in fact is well thought out process to befool people of the state,” said a student of Kashmir University wishing not to be named. “It is just a lip service, but beneath they are all chips of same block,” added another student.

But that is what politics is all about. If NC is playing the game from both sides, it essentially is the failure of the opposition, the PDP, which continues to be the most polled party in 2008 polls in Kashmir.

Indications are that PDP had set huge targets for itself in the last legislative council polls. Though it took its share, it could not bag a seat. That has led party leaders into a shell. The PDP issued a few line statement on Pulwama which was literally on fire for almost a week with three of the party’s lawmakers elected from the district. Did they visit the area? The absence of PDP in the scene created a gulf that NC is filling. That is what politics is all about!

The only development that could be attributed to the PDP is the visit of Mebooba Mufti and its surgeon spokesman, Dr Sumir Koul to the SMHS where they visited the acid attack victim. They decided to fly the girl to Delhi for a plastic surgery!

2 COMMENTS

  1. Greetings to Entire team of Kashmir Life.
    It is a well written copy, and making deep analysis of the situation which markedly is being ignored by other media houses.
    NC is playing with double edged sword.
    But irony is PDP is just for the sake of name now. It is a fact that they had expectations from recently held elections, but their failure has made them to be in shell which presumably they are not going to leave now.
    I think they are losing relevance.

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