Opinion An ‘ally’ Omar can’t count on
All he got in response was silence.
If Omar Abdullah broke down in the Assembly on Tuesday over the shooting of a youth in Baramulla,asking why it had happened,some of his anger may have been directed towards one corner of the Treasury benches.
All he got in response was silence. However,that has been the story of the state Congress which,left adrift by its high command,is struggling to formulate a position on the key issues affecting the Valley.
The only Congress leader to break his silence on the matter of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the wake of the incident has been Saifuddin Soz,who belongs to Baramulla. But when he spoke up hinting that he supported the revocation of the Act,he received no support from the state while the central Congress leadership distanced itself from his statement.
Soz had written a letter to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde over the Act,urging that the Chief Minister be taken into confidence before any decision was taken on AFSPA.
The partys official silence on the issue is seen as convenient,given that it can hardly distance itself from what is happening either at the state or the Centre.
It isnt the first time either that the beleaguered Omar has found himself isolated from ally Congress. Last year,when Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayed,belonging to the Congress,was accused of helping his son clear exams,the minister had resigned to party chief Sonia Gandhi than the CM. Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla,also from Congress,had set off protests in the Valley by issuing an order that Dogras of Jammu be given ethnic certificate,without even discussing the issue in the Cabinet.
The ruling National Conference sees foul play in the fact that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party has kept its ire directed at Omar,sparing the Congress,in the wake of the Afzal Guru hanging. Given that the Congress has been an ally of the PDP in the past,the NC may not be too off the mark in fearing that they could join hands again,leaving it to bear the brunt of an anti-incumbency vote.
Ehsan is a principal correspondent based in Srinagar.
mir.ehsan@expressindia.com
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