FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

Beyond the Elections in Kashmir

In the Assembly Elections in Kashmir, the National Conference, under the leadership of Farooq Abdullah won a landslide victory. Farooq Abdullah has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of the State and commands 2/3 majority in the Assembly without taking into account the strength of his electoral allies - the BSP, the Congress(T) and the CPI(M).

National Parties participating on their own, the Congress (1), the BJP and the JD have been marginalized.

In his election campaign Farooq Abdullah, with exemplary courage, upheld the accession of the State to the Union of India as final and indissoluble and denounced the options of accession to Pakistan and independence, dangled before the people by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference which appeared to be the invisible adversary, though not participating in the election. Farooq Abdullah promised restoration of full autonomy for the State, within the framework of the Constitution of India and hinted that through negotiations with the Centre, the form and context of autonomy shall be fixed at a point lying somewhere between the Delhi Agreement of 1953 and the Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah Accord of 1975. He also promised to give the people of the State, an honest government and a functional administration and through them all-round economic development, revival of tourism and above all, peace and normalcy to the strife-torn state. He promised a review of all cases of detention and the release of those retained merely on suspicion of association with militancy and ex-gratia payment for loss of life and property and the creation of conditions for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, in dignity and without fear.

There is nothing in Farooq Abdullah's programme and priorities to which any sensible person could, take objection but the question remains: whether and how far he will be able to deliver and how soon, before euphoria begins to ebb and hopes begin to vanish and disillusionment begins to set in.

This question is valid because the election has been conducted in J&K under the shadow of the gun: raging militancy kept under control by an overwhelming pressure of the security forces. Because their legitimacy, despite the unexpectedly high turn-out and low invalidity rate is questioned. Because, above all, the election has not addressed the political question behind the insurgency which has been raging in the State for 7 years and which acquired, at times, both the dimensions of a proxy war by Pakistan and of a war by India against its own people.

The political question remains unresolved. The people have voted. They might have voted out of fear under coercion but they voted for the party which they knew, which has served as the traditional vehicle for Kashmiri Nationalism, for the expression of their "national" aspirations, for well-orchestrated 'defiance' of central authority, as and when the political situation so demanded. They rejected Farooq Abdullah when he identified himself with the national party ruling in Delhi and they have embraced Farooq Abdullah, not only because they had no choice and one's own devil is better than the other owing allegiance to distant and untrustworthy masters but because Farooq Abdullah promised to realize "autonomy, short of independence", as promised by Congress(I) and "maximum "autonomy" as offered by the United Front, even though he failed to obtain a categorical assurance either from the Congress(1) or the UF on the restoration of the Delhi Agreement, or a formal Resolution of the Parliament or even a formal statement by the Central Government on the floor of the Parliament. This was denied to Farooq Abdullah, and what is more important to the Kashmiri people, on the specious plea that without elections, the Central Government could not recognize any party or formation as the legitimate representative of the people. This apparent commitment to democracy was nothing more than a device. The Union Government wanted to play the cards, keeping them close to the chest, and to keep all options open. In order to set the stage for the election, the Central Government could have offered a political package based on autonomy and special status for the State the active principles behind Article 370 and the Delhi Agreement, defined howsoever vaguely, the form and quantum of autonomy, thus offering a meaningful challenge both to Pro-Pakistan and pro-Independence forces in the Valley and giving something concrete to Farooq Abdullah on which to rally the Kashmiris. Farooq Abdullah was forced to eat the humble piece and face his people empty-handed and charge his political tactics, with courage and determination, from boycott of the Lok Sabha election, to participation in the Assembly election.

Farooq Abdullah's theatric tinged with theatrics, during the elections and as the Chief Minister, may sound sweet music to the Central Government and to the people in the rest of the country, but how long shall the conductor, with all the will in the world, perform, without the immediate audience getting restive and impatient with every passing day, an audience which is not free of paid as well as committed hecklers and cat-callers?

Time is running out in Kashmir - faster than the Central Government and the national parties realize. It is time to make a grand move, time for a magnificent gesture, time for a determined bid, in order to win over the people of the Valley, disillusioned, as they are, with Pakistan, sick, as they are, with the destruction of life and environment fatigued, as they are, caught in the cross-fire between the militants and the security forces.

The Hurriyat's call for boycott of election was defied, it could not have been otherwise but they have not vanished into thin air nor are they totally out of tune with the innermost aspirations of the Kashmiri people a longing for 'Azadi', which should not be equated as love for Pakistan.

The Hurriyat has been caught in its own web; it does not know whether it stands for independence or for accession to Pakistan or for the first as a tactical step to the second. But it is the Kashmiri people who have to be convinced of the perils of independence and of accession to Pakistan and made to feel like master in their own house, under a regime of real autonomy which combines the joy of self-government with the advantage of intimate association with a big country, big not only in size, population and resources and as a market, but in its commitment to plurality, secularism and multi- culturalism.

The time is auspicious for a new beginning. A national consensus has emerged in India which only Hindu Nationalism, as espoused by the BJP and the Shiv Sena does not share that Kashmir deserves a special status and the fullest possible measure of autonomy.

And Hinduvadi forces can be ignored because they lack vision and imagination and because they are swimming against the course of history and the of ethnic resurgence worldwide currents decentralization of power and because they have always and invariably placed territory above the people and demanded a "free hand to the Army" to bash them up or throw them out, because they lack compassion and understanding and because they treat Muslim Kashmiris as if they were all enemies or a booty of war.

Only after the wounds have been healed, only when. the hearts and minds of the Kashmiris have been won, they can turn to Pakistan, for a serious and since dialogue to find a final settlement of the dispute.

Farooq Abdullah and the United Front should first set about their task of finding a meeting ground between Indian sovereignty and Kashmir autonomy. This is their historic responsibility. The sooner, the better.

Before Farooq Abdullah retires again, disillusioned and disgusted.

Before another winter of discontent sets on.

Before the Paradise Regained is lost forever.

New Delhi,

1 November, 1996                    

(SYED SHAHABUDDIN)