Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir has expressed his extreme frustration in an article in a newspaper by declaring that he would not contest any election in future till the status quo ante of the state is restored. Can there be any consolation to his wishful thinking except pitying him? The unification of J & K with mainstream India has come after a long struggle of the people. The abrogation of Articles 35A and 370 have been received with unmitigated joy and delight by the people of the J&K except, of course, by some privileged families and extremists, who behave and dance like the slaves of their masters sitting outside somewhere else.
The entire article of Omar speaks of his puerile ravings and rantings and mirrors his inanities and absurdities bordering on insanities. Persons like him have been befooling the public with the active help and partnership of the powers that be in Delhi. Is it any small achievement that those refugees, who did not have the right to become village pradhans in the erstwhile J&K state will now have equal rights like others and can contest any election from the post of Pradhan to membership of Parliament? India has seen many ministers and chief ministers in many states and even two Prime Ministers coming from among the refugees, who had to, unfortunately, flee from their home’s hearths, which existed in present Pakistan or Bangladesh. But those unfortunate who got settled in the J &K were deprived of even the full citizenship. What was their fault? The fault dear Brutus was not in their stars but in them that they were underlings of 35A and 370.
Omar Abdullah is now wailing that he would not contest election in any of the Union territories as if the Heaven would fall if he does not fight any election. The Abdullah and Mufti families have treated the subjects of the state as their serfs. Some 25 years ago, I was invited to participate in a seminar at Jammu, where local speaker after speaker lamented that the generous monetary help received from Delhi was going down the drains. Most of the speakers were critical of the political leadership of the state, which was happy with the ongoing terrorism. These Muftis, Gilanees and Abdullahs had developed their vested interests in the continuance of the terrorism in the state and in order to remain ensconced in the power, they often used to blow hot and cold about their relationship with India. Now their bluffs have been finally called. Integration of the country has been achieved after losing the precious lives of thousands of people across the country, it cannot be allowed to be dissipated or diluted at the empty threats of the ilk of Abdullah.
There is no gainsaying that there are some people sitting in other parts of the country who will vie with each other in extending their support to even senseless demands of these Johnnies because their loyalties lie somewhere else but in India. However, they forget the hard fact that no government, howsoever friendly she may be to the sinister forces would be able to gather the courage to reverse the march of integration and restore the status quo ante in Jammu and Kashmir.