In Kashmir, National Conference president Omar Abdullah is seen to have finally come of age. His brief two-minute speech during the debate on the trust vote in Parliament has re-defined his image and stature as a politician. A scion of Kashmir’s first family — the Abdullahs — Omar’s entry into politics was perceived so long to have little to do with his own merit and mettle. He was the grandson of Kashmir’s tallest leader and NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and the only son of former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, credentials undisputed in a party that functions around the family.Having stayed out of Kashmir for most of his life, first as a student and later because of the strife in the Valley, Omar was also seen as somewhat of an “outsider”. He never even picked up Kashmiri language as a child.Still, when Omar joined the NC, his rise was meteoric: he first got the coveted party mandate for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency and then became the Minister of State, External Affairs, in the NDA government.But the 2002 Assembly elections changed everything. This was the first time the Abdullahs found themselves out of power in three decades, even though the NC emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly. The elections had been fought with Omar as the NC president. He himself lost from the family’s traditional bastion, Ganderbal, and it was seen as Kashmir’s rejection of the shift in the traditional NC politics.Thus when Omar stood up in Parliament to support the UPA Government with his party’s two votes, he was simultaneously speaking to Kashmir, with an aim to revive the traditional constituency of the NC. His candid admission that he should have quit the government and snapped ties with the NDA immediately after the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat was seen as a re-emphasis of his party’s secular credentials. In Kashmir, it was also seen as an apology to people who accuse the Abdullahs of being opportunistic, ready to sacrifice the core values of the NC to keep themselves in power.Importantly for Omar, not only did he impress the nation, even Kashmir received his speech well. The other major subject the NC president talked about in his speech was the controversial land transfer to the Amarnath Shirne Board. The issue was first raised by BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani in his speech during the trust vote debate. Omar’s rebuttal to the accusation that the agitation in Kashmir against the land transfer was communal was seen as a true representation of the facts in Kashmir.Whether Omar’s two-minute speech in Parliament was just an outburst of a young scion of a major political dynasty who is tired of being out of power or the first signs of a leader only time will determine. But the energy and content have undoubtedly provided the NC a chance to revive its glorious past.For a change, Kashmir is happy that one of its top leaders has spoken the same language, with a similar tenor, in both Srinagar and New Delhi. Earlier the Valley’s mainstream leadership has always been accused of speaking in two tongues while at home and in the Capital.
