Farooq Abdullah steps down as president of NC, decision rife with wide ramifications

Arun Joshi Farooq Abdullah, the tallest leader of Kashmir, has quit as president of the National Conference, in a move that will have its wide ramifications as this is an extraordinary decision in extraordinary times when the Himalayan territory is struggling to discover its exact position in the geopolitical world, in the run-up to the much- awaited Assembly elections. National Conference, the grand old party of Jammu and Kashmir, which has its roots in history since the 1930s, has been the defining factor of Kashmir politics over the decades, far beyond the political and geographical boundaries of the Valley.  It had a love and hate relationship with Delhi and also with Pakistan. Farooq in his two spells as president (from 1980 to 2022, and then again from 2009 to 2022) has led the party for 35 years, during which the party saw many highs and lows, and its relationship with Delhi changed time and again. At times Delhi viewed Farooq as a favourite leader in Kashmir, and on other occasions, he was decried as a man who disrupted the direction of Kashmir. He is also considered as a man who spoke of India in Kashmir and also the man who is held responsible for the rigging in 1987 polls that Pakistan sponsored militancy in the Valley, which till date has left thousands dead and tens of thousands displaced. Post abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, it has been facing a crisis far greater than the times of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the founder of the party. Farooq witnessed much of the history of the party and became a beneficiary and victim of the policies of Delhi and also across the border. His announcement to quit the post of the party president made at a party meeting in Srinagar on Thursday (November 17), came at a time when Jammu and Kashmir is locked in a struggle to find where it stands in the Indian nationhood. The Indian nation is happy that the abolition of Article 370 has removed all the barriers between this region and the rest of the country, and it has been fully integrated into the country. But there are many fissures which leave many aspects of the people’s aspirations unaddressed. The real fruits of the abrogation of the specials status of the erstwhile state now divided into two union territories of J&K, and Ladakh, have not tasted as sweet to the people as the Centre believes. This is sweet and sour taste, as the people are unhappy the way J&K has been downgraded to the status of Union Territory that, too, in two federally administered units. And they have become impatient for the kind of democracy to which they were used to. The Assembly elections have become a story of deferred dreams. Farooq Abdullah’s stepping down at this moment manifests many fault lines – his loosening grip over the party, the huge task of aligning the party with the struggle to restore Article 370 and the statehood as it existed on August 4, 2019, a day before the special status was snapped by the centre, and also how to convince the people that he is sincere to the cause of the history of Kashmir.  Delhi leaders had unleashed a smear campaign against the National Conference, holding it responsible for all the destruction that took place in Kashmir in the past. Although the BJP leaders, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, to local unit functionaries, have been blaming the three dynastic parties – National Conference, Congress and PDP for all the death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir, yet the primary target is the NC and Abdullah family. And, Farooq Abdullah, who is a link between three generations that of his father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and also of his son Omar Abdullah – became the undisputed symbol of the target of his political adversaries. It is not for the first time that he is quitting the post of party president – he had done so in June 2002 when he handed over the baton to his son Omar Abdullah at a big public rally in Srinagar, almost in a repeat run of 1980 when his father Sheikh Abdullah had crowned him as party president at Iqbal Park, Srinagar. But he assumed the presidency again in 2009 after Omar became the Chief Minister of the NC-Congress coalition government. This time it is different – NC is not in power, and it is also dealing with its internal troubles as also suffering the flip-flop vis-à-vis People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration – the conglomerate of the political groups in Kashmir that had vowed to work single-mindedly for the restoration of the statehood and Article 370. That aspect has also suffered jolt as the NC has opted to go it alone in the elections and other constituents of the PAGD have become wary of the NC and its leadership. In all likelihood, National Conference will elect Omar Abdullah as its president on December 5, the day of the birth anniversary of the party founder. That will determine the direction that party will take, and that will also reflect the changes that Kashmir politics will take with regard to other parties in the Valley, and also Delhi. Farooq’s departure from the scene as the party head is not as it was the case with his father Sheikh Abdullah in 1980. The times and challenges have changed, which Farooq knew how to steer through. It has left a test of sorts for Omar, who swings between his ambitions to stand up with Delhi and at the same time will have to emerge as a symbol of Kashmiri identity. His challenge is that Kashmiris and the rest of the political world don’t see in him the shadow of Farooq Abdullah. About the Author: Arun Joshi is a senior journalist based in J&K. He has worked with Hindustan Times, Times of India, Indian Express, and The Tribune. He has authored “ Eyewitness Kashmir: Teetering on Nuclear War” and three other books. DISCLAIMER This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with those of prameyanews.com.