All eyes are on Farooq Abdullah, the National Conference President, a three time former Chief Minister of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state, a former Union Minister and the sitting Member parliament from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency as he is all set to make his maiden appearance in the country’s house of representatives –Lok Sabha after the withdrawal of statehood and special status to Jammu & Kashmir on August 5 last year. Though Farooq Abdullah has not shown any ambiguity in his party’s stand on restoration of special status and statehood to Jammu & Kashmir withdrawn on August 5 last, but conflicting statements over NC’s stand on electoral politics in Jammu & Kashmir by his son and party’s Vice President Omar Abdullah also a former Chief Minister has created doubts in the minds of the people in Jammu & Kashmir. People would love to hear from Farooq Abdullah over the future course of action in the light of Gupkar declarations from the floor of country’s parliament as his maiden statement over the withdrawal of statehood and special status to Jammu & Kashmir in the parliament has to come in response to last year’s August 5 decisions and slew of other measures taken during last one year to change the basic citizenship rights and recruitment laws in Jammu & Kashmir. Interestingly Farooq Abdullah is the man who heads a party condemned for winding up the plebiscite front just for power in the year 1975 and participating in 1996 elections without seeking restoration of autonomy even after an assurance from the then Prime Minister Narshima Rao that sky is limit for restoring the constitutional position of Jammu & Kashmir.
Politically Farooq Abdullah does not have any scope for negotiating the post August 5, 2019 position of Jammu & Kashmir with the incumbent Prime Minister and morality demands that he does not show any deviation from the Gupkar declaration owned by National Conference and five other top mainstream parties of Jammu & Kashmir.
Since Farooq Abdullah is leader of a six party alliance launched to fight for restoration of statehood and special status to Jammu & Kashmir under Gupkar declaration, he has to show respect to the trust which the five other signatories of Gupkar declaration have shown in his leadership. By all standards of political understandabilities Farooq Abdullah will have to forget about both 1975 betrayal and as well as the Himalayan blunder of 1996 as this time the signatories of the Gupkar declaration have to evolve a consensus on the future of Jammu & Kashmir since downgraded to a union territory. Just few days before the central government withdrew the special status and the statehood to erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state Farooq Abdullah had led a three member delegation of his party to a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after which he had shown optimism about the special status of Jammu & Kashmir. Politically Farooq Abdullah does not have any scope for negotiating the post August 5, 2019 position of Jammu & Kashmir with the incumbent Prime Minister and morality demands that he does not show any deviation from the Gupkar declaration owned by National Conference and five other top mainstream parties of Jammu & Kashmir.
