J&K: What's Sajad Gani Lone's message to separatists?
When Sajad Gani Lone decided to plunge into mainstream politics in 2009 and contested parliamentary elections, he described his participation in the polls as "a shift in strategy, not ideology."
He got a substantial number of votes but lost the parliamentary election from north Kashmir.
In 2010, the situation changed in Kashmir. Thousands of youth took to the streets after a series of killings of youngsters at the hands of police and paramilitary forces and in six months, according to government data, 112 youngsters were killed in firing by the police and paramilitary forces.
Lone defended the sentiment of the streets. That year Lone went on to say that the relationship between India and Kashmir was in trouble as India had to use force and keep its Army on alert to hold on to Kashmir.
He argued that the relationship between India and Kashmir should not be dependent upon the Army. "It has to be seen to what extent India would move in order to ensure what it gives to Kashmiris in terms of political concessions, which evolves into a relationship which doesn't require it to kill young kids to hold on to the land," Lone had insisted then.
As things settled down in Kashmir, Lone started working in his north Kashmir constituency particularly in Bandipora and Kupwara districts, which are considered the bastion of the People's Conference, founded by his father Abdul Gani Lone in 1970s.
His father was popular in the area and most of the People's Conference cadre comes from north Kashmir. Lone didn't do too many interviews from 2012 to 2014, kept a low profile and continued to reach out to people.
Given his support base in his area, Lone could have won elections on his own without meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the elections. He, however, met Modi and called him his elder brother.
It happened at a time when the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and the NC working president Omar Abdullah were condemning the BJP and Modi's politics, warning people against "designs of the BJP and the RSS".
Even Omar Abdullah went into Lone's constituency telling people while alluding to Sajad Lone that they should not vote for those who polish boots of Modi. Slogans were raised against Lone, "Modi ka jo yaar hai, gaddar hai gaddar hai."
In spite of it, Lone won two seats in Kupwara. Lone's colleagues argue that his meeting with Modi was necessary to get a level-playing field. Meeting with Modi, according to them, ensured that the People's Conference cadres got an open field like other political parties. After all, they argue, till the other day, that the People's Conference was espousing separatist ideology and Lone acted as one its loudest speakers in 2008 and 2010 in innumerable debates.
Lone's win and electoral campaign was showcased by national news channels as the greatest transformation in Jammu and Kashmir and separatist politics. As Lone's wife Asma Khan is daughter of Amanullah Khan, founder and life-long chairman of pro-independent Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and she campaigned for Lone, it was described as a watershed moment in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.
Separatists didn't react to Lone's media prominence but were silently watching how it will play out. As things went down in the last week, Lone was first denied a ministerial berth by the BJP and none other than former chief minister Omar Abdullah made a sarcastic comment about it on Twitter. "One aspiring minister cancelled his flight to Jammu, unhappy with what was on offer. Better offer, goes by road. Fun & games of coalitions," Abdullah tweeted.
Subsequently, Lone got a place in the Cabinet but was given the insignificant post of minister of science and technology and animal husbandry. On social networking sites Lone was ridiculed and Kashmiri netizens wrote on Facebook and Twitter that the achievable nationhood ended in the department of animal husbandry.
In 2006, the Cardiff-educated Lone after having two meetings with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the UPA-I came up with 268-page document called "achievable nationhood"- which he had described as vision document on resolution of Jammu and Kashmir conflict.
The document provides a model to achieve an economically single boundary-less Jammu and Kashmir economic union with India and Pakistan, jointly managing defence and foreign affairs of their respective portions of Kashmir.
As the report suggests, Lone has refused the offer of an "insignificant ministry" and would prefer to be MLA of his constituency, which means the BJP would lose the support of two MLAs.
However, it also carries a message to separatists that while plunging into mainstream politics they have to get numbers to get top slots or they just have to face what Lone faced in spite of winning two seats.
Besides, the People's Conference feels that its north Kashmir constituencies are likely to face the PDP onslaught as the PDP has given the crucial revenue ministry to one of its Kupwara MLAs and another defeated MLA of the party has been given a Rajya Sabha seat. The PDP is out to challenge Lone in his bastion and a low profile ministry in no way is going to make things easy for him.
Lone today might be bitter with his half-hearted acceptance by the BJP after a tight hug by Modi. He had burnt all boats by being the first politician to visit Modi and now he has taken the first flight from Jammu to Srinagar while refusing to accept the ministry.
There is a feeling in Srinagar that Lone's political journey conveys message to separatists and they by now might have got it. That they don't have a great offer from the other side once they switch - other than the ministry of animal husbandry of course.