Thousands of National Conference members converged at a stadium in Srinagar today to attend the party’s first state-level convention in 15 years as its top leadership reinvented its anti-Delhi rhetoric.
Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, the two former Chief Ministers of the state and senior most leaders of the main opposition party, in their speeches lashed out at symbols of New Delhi: from Prime Ministers to the Army Chief to political parties.
Addressing the Centre, Farooq said, “You snatched everything from us. You wonder why the people here don’t raise your slogans. The people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will not raise your slogans till you win their hearts.”
He said this was possible only by restoring the state’s autonomy, the bedrock of the party’s politics.
In opposition for three years now, the party seemed to have completed its transition to soft-separatism as Farooq dared Army Chief Bipin Rawat that continuing counter-insurgency operation “cannot kill the sentiment.”
“The government thinks that they can suppress us by force. Don’t scare us, we will not be scared. We will keep on resisting you,” he said.
The National Conference, founded in 1938, has rooted its politics in anti-Delhi rhetoric every time it went out of power with its founding leader, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, leading a front for demand of plebiscite for two decades. The party leadership has craftily balanced the relationship with New Delhi and its politics in the region by making sudden policy turns.
Its convention in Srinagar was one of biggest political gathering in the region since the last year’s summer unrest which paralysed the support and crippled mobilisation of mainstream parties.
The 80-year-old Farooq, whose re-election as the party’s president was formally announced at the five-hour-long delegates’ convention that was attended by nearly 20,000 members from across the state, made scathing anti-Delhi attacks.
Farooq sternly distanced himself from power centres of past and present. He accused the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of attempting to dislodge his government in 1983, accused Jagmohan — the state’s Governor in 1990 — of planning exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, lashed out at BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav and dared him to drive without bulletproof cavalcades.
Farooq also targeted: the RSS, state’s Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, Congress, demonetisation, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and NIA raids against separatists.
Farooq and Omar positioned the NC as a wall that shielded the state from the conspiracies — the word referred repeatedly in their lengthy speeches. “We have faced so many political conspiracies beginning from Gulmarg where Sheikh Abdullah was arrested by a police constable,” Omar said in his speech, referring to his grandfather’s arrest in 1953. Omar also blamed the state’s ruling PDP-BJP alliance government for deteriorating situation in the state. “The situation is such that youth who joined the police now prefer to become militants,” he said.
He said the people had waited for three years for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak favourably, which he finally did in August last year when he spoke of embracing the people of the state.
“But it seems his Cabinet members were not listening carefully to him. Not one Cabinet member has backed his statement,” he said, adding that remarks coming from Union Cabinet members were confusing. “You keep comparing Jammu and Kashmir with Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and other states, but you should know that we have acceded and not merged. You cannot compare us with other states,” he said.
Ex-CM throws away mic
When National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad proposed re-election of Farooq Abdullah as the president of the party and it was backed by the two zonal presidents, Omar Abdullah was requested to make a formal announcement in this regard. However, when Omar went to the dais, he burst into an angry mode and threw the mic. He then came back to his seat without making the announcement which was later made by Sagar
Farooq, Omar lash out at Centre
