With the exile of Maharaja Hari Singh, Sheikh Abdullah was able to fulfil his desire of ruling Jammu & Kashmir with the active support of his friend and mentor in Delhi, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. As Sheikh assumed the control, the era of duplicitous politics began in J&K. Sheikh Abdullah made his hatred for the Dogras very obvious and his deeds soon began to reflect his mind. “ Hindu, Muslim, Sikh Etihaad“, a popular slogan during the Pakistan invasion turned out to be a mere slogan. Unfortunately, Pandit Nehru turned a blind eye despite the murmurs of protest both from the Jammu and Ladakh regions. It was the bonhomie between Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah that sowed the seeds of regional and religious discrimination and separatism. When the manipulations and anti-national activities of Sheikh Abdullah were challenged by Pandit Prem NathDogra led PrajaParishad, Nehru instead of asking Sheikh to mend his ways called the Dogras of Jammu as communal. This encouraged and emboldened the Sheikh who unleashed the politics of exclusivity and regional discrimination against the people of Jammu and Ladakh purportedly for protecting the identity of Kashmiri Muslims. He did not allow the Hindu and Sikh refugees from Muzaffarabad and neighbouring areas (close to Kashmir) to settle in Kashmir and were forced to move to Jammu. He began to treat J&K as his fiefdom and hobnobbed with Pakistan for which he was removed and jailed in 1953. After initial anger Nehru’s love for him invoked again and he was frequently in and out of jail. Meanwhile, the seeds of separatism were being promoted by his colleagues who had formed the Plebiscite Front, the mother organization of militant outfits Jammu and Kashmir National Liberation Front (JKNLF) and UK based Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). National Conference merged into Indira Gandhi led Congress in February, 1965. While Sheikh was moving in and out of jail, his son Dr Farooq Abdullah who had migrated to London became one of the founding members of JKLF there.He espoused the cause of “Liberation of Kashmir” and accordingly administered oath to the volunteers. A photograph showing him with bAmmanullah Khan and Bhat in Muzaffarabad in 1974 also surfaced in the media. Former J&K Governor BK Nehru in his book Nice Guys Finish Second published a photo of him shaking hands with Ammanullah Khan. He is also reported to have met the latter in a jail in Belgium. Thus, the links of Dr Farooq Abdullah with separatist cum militant ideology outfits were established even before he joined active politics yet he was welcome as Sheikh’s successor by the Congress led central government. Farooq blames RSS and BJP for ignoring him and doubting his loyalty. But readers would be surprised to know thateven during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister,Centre had suspected him of supporting pro-independenceJKLF and having toured Pakistan at the invitation of JKLF during his sojourn in London. But no action was taken. Even later he fell foul with Indira Gandhi due to display of obscenity by some men allegedly sponsored by NCduring a Congress rally in Iqbal Park addressed by Indira Gandhi. One of them was later appointed as Police Officer by Farooq. This led to dethroning of Farooq in 1984 by his brother-in-law Gul Shah.
“Prime Minister Indira Gandhi must have rued her decision to get back the Sheikh because she took a very tough stand against the Resettlement Bill. But the damage had been done. Sheikh had succeeded in rekindling the flames of separatism and radicalization which soon were to burn the Valley converting it into a hell. The blame must be equally shared by the Congress. The duplicitous politics played in J&K by the NC and the Congress proved to be the bane for its people.”
The love-hate relationship between the Nehru-Abdullah families is very intriguing and suspicious as well. Nehru arrested Sheikh, his daughter brought him back to power in 1975. What was the compulsion? Farooq and Indira didn’t enjoy very cordial relations but her son Rajiv signed an accord with him. In 2008, Rahul Gandhi helped Omar Abdullah become the CM. These two families combined are majorly responsible for the duplicitous politics that ultimately led to the quagmire J&K became in Eighties. 1953-75 was the golden period of peace and development in J&K. It had become the favourite destination of local and foreign tourists as well as the Bollywood. With the return of Sheikh in 1975 the tide turned for the worse. Saudi influence started increasing in the Valley, the process of Islamisation began, Muslim majority district pf Kargil was created by bifurcating Ladakh in 1979, Saudi backed Jhelum Valley Medical College in Kashmir was mooted at the expense of badly needed medical care in Jammu province, names of about 2500 villages were changed to Islamic names, a vicious campaign against the Army began, local Hindus were labelled as “Mukhbirs” (informers). The separatist literature was made freely available in the shops and news stand. The Wahhabis commenced making inroads in Kashmir. The first ever International Muslim Conference, duly backed and financed by Saudi Arabia, was held in Srinagar in 1979. The passing of Resettlement Bill twice by the J&K Legislative Assembly in 1982 gave further boost to the campaign of Islamisation launched by the NC led government. Another glaring example of duplicity is the unwillingness of Sheikh Abdullah to add the word “secular” in the State’s Constitution as was done by his well – wisher Indira Gandhi through 73rd Amendment in the preamble of the Indian Constitution. Though at the time Sheikh enjoyed 2/3rd majority yet he did not allow the slogan of “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh Etihaad” become a reality by incorporating it in the Constitution. Surprisingly, the Congress government at the Centre also did not force the Sheikh. The duplicity of Sheikh and NC is obvious because even the successive NC governments led by his descendants failed to act. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi must have rued her decision to get back the Sheikh because she took a very tough stand against the Resettlement Bill. But the damage had been done. Sheikh had succeeded in rekindling the flames of separatism and radicalization which soon were to burn the Valley converting it into a hell. The blame must be equally shared by the Congress. The duplicitous politics played in J&K by the NC and the Congress proved to be the bane for its people.
(The author is a Jammu based veteran security and strategic analyst and a political commentator. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
