Opinion More than mea culpa
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has several firsts in politics. He announced his instant resignation when the opposition pointed fingers...
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has several firsts in politics. He announced his instant resignation when the opposition pointed fingers at his moral character in the assembly recently,sending a loud and clear message that his upright image is more important than power. And unlike traditional politicians,he is ready to accept the mistakes of his government,and has the moral courage to say sorry.
His candid admission last year that he should have quit the NDA government immediately after the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat was not only seen as a re-emphasis of his partys secular credentials but a sincere apology to the people of Kashmir who had accused the Abdullahs of being opportunistic,ready to sacrifice everything to keep themselves in power.
In fact,Omar Abdullah had begun a fresh political journey as the new leader of National Conference after the partys ouster from power in 2002,by a public apology for the mistakes of his fathers six year rule,especially regarding human rights violations. He continued apologising all through his opposition years. His first assembly session was no different. Mired by the controversies and the PDPs belligerent politics,Abdullahs approach was apologetic,sometimes even bordering on the defensive.
The Shopian fiasco changed it all. Realising that the case had hit a blind alley,the CM has sought to play politics over the issue to tide over the gathering crisis,rather than keep his government focused on the only issue at stake: the identity of the culprits and justice to the victims. When Abdullah visited Shopian for the first time recently (four months late through) to reach out to the people,he promised gallows for the culprits,saying I will not be able to sleep in calm till the culprits are arrested. But his law minister A.M. Sagar portrayed the arrest of the four policemen in a manner that suggested that the government had already found those who had committed the rape and murder.
Thus,Omar Abdullahs apologies are now seen as a political tool to calm the street,rather than a young politicians penchant for plainspeak. Or does it suggest that Omar Abdullah is unable to make his administration turn his words into action? Why?
There are multiple reasons. After the initial goof-up,Omar Abdullah expressed his governments sincere and unflinching commitment to digging out the truth. On June 4,he said that the two victims were like his sisters and he,as a brother,feels the pain of the tragedy and assured that truth would not be allowed to be suppressed. Two days before this statement,the Forensic Science Laboratory had finalised its opinion report suggesting the presence of spermatozoa on the slides of the vaginal swabs.But for some mysterious reason,it was not given to the investigators. In fact,this crucial report,which would have pushed the probe forward,was not dispatched till June 6. Why was such unnecessary and illegal delay allowed? And once this delay surfaced,why did the government limit its action to a scientific officer in FSL who for all practical purposes was only following orders? Why didnt the government act against the two senior police officers who were found responsible for this delay?
Omar Abdullah has been consistently saying that his government has learnt lessons from the initial faux pas in the case. The question is how? The only crucial forensic piece of evidence that would have nailed the culprits the slides of the vaginal swab of the two victims has been replaced,ensuring that there is no way to find the truth. Why did the government fail to ensure that the slides were not tampered with? Though the government decided to register a case of rape and murder,the standard procedure for a medico-legal case was consistently breached by both doctors and FSL officials. Imagine,the slides were kept in a cardboard box in FSL for 25 days before they were sent for DNA profiling to Delhi. Why did the government allow that? Why didnt the government act against the top health officials responsible for the initial delay?
The case of the four arrested police officers,who were accused of negligence and destruction of evidence while investigating the case initially,also shows that the emphasis of the government was towards controlling the crisis situation rather than a speedy resolution of the case. From the Jan Commission to the Special Investigation Team,the investigation has not found evidence suggesting their direct role in rape and murder. But rather than protecting the slides carrying the spermatozoa of the culprits,which was the only way to find truth,the government consistently gave an impression that the four officers were involved in the crime. This was evident when the government hired one of countrys top lawyers,Harish Salve to represent the state in the Supreme Court. This unprecedented step was politically correct because otherwise Kashmir would have again erupted seeking the arrest of the real culprits. While the government arrayed the four cops as accused for their negligence,the government didnt act against their supervisors who belong to the elite Indian Police Service. Is the responsibility of the police and civil bureaucracy,stuck between the district administration and the CM,just like a courier service? Why were there no checks and balances?
The reason for these flawed steps is not a mystery. Unlike his predecessors,including Farooq Abdullah,Omar lacks an efficient team of bureaucrats who will ensure that his promises to the public are actually followed up with consistent efforts,to prevent lapses at the lower level. On the political level,the story is similar. Omar Abdullah looks alone in every crisis situation. Unlike former Chief Ministers Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad,Omars top colleagues from his own party or the coalition Congress do not come up as a buffer when the opposition attacks. Mufti had his daughter Mehbooba and senior lieutenants like Muzaffar Beig. Azad too had a vocal colleague in Abdul Gani Vakil to respond to criticism. Perhaps Omars biggest political lesson could be from how the PDP kept its patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed out of the recent political wrestling with the government. Good governance cannot be achieved by good intentions alone. Omar needs to exhibit himself as a strong administrator with a firm approach,not a nervous politician. Then there will be no need for apologies.
muzamil.jaleel@expressindia.com
Share
