J&K autonomy: Chidambaram deserves brickbats, but PM Modi is wrong to politicise 'martyrs'
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram pitched for greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of Article 370, while addressing a gathering in Rajkot, where he was supposed to speak on the GST.
The Congress immediately distanced itself from the statement, terming it as individual opinion, and not of the party. The Congress claimed that the solution to J&K lies within the framework of India's Constitution, not in autonomy. The BJP and its allies immediately jumped to criticise, accusing Chidambaram of being anti-national.
Chidambaram has served as home minister in the past during the UPA government, which had during its 10-year term, appointed three interlocutors and five working groups for Kashmir, including one headed by former vice-president Hamid Ansari. They also conducted a series of round table conferences on Kashmir, chaired by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Each working group and interlocutor had submitted their reports, none of which ever saw the light of day, all still gathering dust. Hence, while Chidambaram, as the home minister failed completely in his mission to resolve the Kashmir issue, raising it now is meaningless.
Commenting when out of power is easy, after all, you are no longer responsible nor likely to be for some more time.
In Kashmir, moments after he was re-elected as president of the National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, put forth a similar demand of autonomy, which was followed by Omar Abdullah, who also spoke on similar lines.
Both took their cue from Chidambaram’s comments. Such statements are always expected from the father and son duo, as they are now desperate to be back and regain their lost political space. These comments are only for the Valley population, ignoring the demands and requirements of the rest of the state. Thus, the NC, while claiming to be a state party, appears to only represent the Valley.
What is most surprising is that Chidambaram and the Abdullahs only consider Kashmir, while suggesting autonomy. They should have been batting for complete J&K, including PoK, to be a single autonomous state. Why do they hesitate in mentioning PoK? If there should be an autonomous region, it should be the entire state and not just a portion, now amalgamated and integrated with India?
Jammu and Ladakh would never support their decision for autonomy as it does not trust the Kashmiri leadership nor even the Congress, as was evident in the last elections. The regions within the state clearly have different views on the subject, which neither Chidambaram nor the Abdullahs thought of mentioning.
They, despite being senior politicians, with national standing, speak only of a particular region (Valley) within the state, not the state per se.
Article 35A, presently in the Supreme Court is being objected to by the NC and the PDP, solely for political gains in the Valley. Their actions have ignored Jammu and Ladakh, whose views on the article are the opposite. Hence, these parties would never be accepted across the state. Demands for autonomy, retention of articles 35A and 370 have adversely affected Jammu and Ladakh, thus enhancing intra-state divides.
There are no doubts that such comments would gain headlines in Pakistan and become fodder for the separatists, who are presently struggling to regain their feet, after being exposed of creating assets worth billions, on money funded by Pakistan.
They are facing National Investigation Agency and Enforcement Directorate scrutiny and many of their kin alongside members of the Hurriyat are already behind bars, singing like canaries.
The criticism of Chidambaram’s comments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is justified. After all, with elections around the corner, every word spoken by the Opposition is open to exploitation. However, most unimaginative has been his exploiting martyrs and the armed forces in countering these comments.
His words that "such statements are an insult to the martyrs and the armed forces" are in itself an irony. The present government seeks to project its support to the armed forces and its success in the surgical strike, solely to gain votes, whereas the reality is the opposite.
This government has damaged the standing and prestige of the armed forces much more, in its three years in power, than most governments over decades. It has directed the police to maltreat silently protesting veterans, removed them by force from Jantar Mantar, appealed in courts against deserving pension decisions to legitimate war veterans and widows while simultaneously sought to lower the standing and stature of the armed forces against other central forces. It is fighting tooth and nail to deny the armed forces its legitimate Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU), presently allocated to all other services.
Had Chidambaram stated that autonomy should have been done during the UPA rule, but could not be, as it lacked the guts to implement that, he would still have made sense. To mention now, when the government of which he was a part lacked the ability to implement it, is only seeking a few minutes of prime time.
For the Abdullahs such statements are natural, as they are desperate to regain power, after being unceremoniously thrown out.
Chidambaram and the Abdullahs definitely need to be chastised for their loose statements and the Prime Minister was right when he did so. But playing on vote bank politics, by imploring martyrs and the armed forces in criticising them is hypocrisy, as this government has done more damage than most previous ones to the military’s stature and standing.
As a military veteran, I request you to please leave the armed forces and our martyrs out of your vote bank politics.