NC’s tribute of silence to its founder Sheikh Abdullah!

Leaving all the space to PDP and separatists, J&K’s largest political party has now reconciled to oblivion

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 8: They call their organisation as Jammu and Kashmir’s largest political party even after reducing its base in Legislative Assembly from 58 seats in 1996 to 29 in 2008. They claim other distinctions: Being the only political outfit that has base and representation in all the three regions of the state; having maximum number of its representative, among all state parties, in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the state’s own Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. They also claim that maximum of the Panches and Sarpanches elected in 2011 Panchayat elections are affiliated to their party. But, conversely, leaders of the ruling National Conference (NC) are not going to hold any congregation to remember the party’s founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on his 30^th death anniversary tomorrow.

In fact, the process of forgetting Sher-e-Kashmir began a few years back when Government of Jammu and Kashmir withdrew gazetted holiday from its calendar over 25 years after Sheikh’s death in 1982. It was followed by cancellation of the remembrance ceremony at Sheikh’s mausoleum at Hazratbal. A tribute paying still takes place on the NC founder’s birth anniversary every year on December 5^th but the number of participants has drastically reduced in the last five years.

Even as few of Sheikh’s devotees, like late Maqbool Shah Khaksaar, mustered courage to turn up at his tombstone on occasion of his birth and death anniversaries in the worst of times from 1990 to 1995 and most of today’s Ministers and legislators did hide themselves in Jammu after publishing resignation advertisements and apologies to militants, a change in the ambience was witnessed in 1996-97. With Dr Farooq Abdullah functioning simultaneously as Chief Minister and NC’s President, multitudes of the party workers converged on Hazratbal to remember Sher-e-Kashmir on all of his birth and death anniversaries from 1996 to 2002.

Even the militants’ threats, an IED, thick snow accumulation and sub-zero temperature failed to stop thousands of Sheikh’s devotees from attending a massive remembrance event in December 1998. On one of such occasions, independent media reports put the number of participants between 15,000 to 20,000---one of the largest by the post-1990 Kashmir standards. Even after NC lost power to a PDP-Congress coalition in November 2002, Quran Khwani and Fatiha Khwani by thousands of the party supporters used to be a routine feature at the mausoleum in Hazratbal, both on September 8^th and December 5^th, from 2002 to 2007.

Enthusiasm was so overwhelming that Directorate of Information, first under KB Jandial and later under Farooq Reenzu, organized photo exhibitions at Sheikh’s mausoleum on his birth and death anniversaries even during Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s regime. Even on the Martyrs Day of July 13^th, NC would organize well-attended public gatherings at Mazaar-e-Shuhada (Naqashband Sahab) and Sher-e-Kashmir Park in defiance of militant-sponsored shutdown. This age-old practice has also been abandoned now.

Even on the Martyrs Day in 2008, when the NC was in opposition and the Hurriyat-sponsored bandh was complete during the Amarnath land row, party’s workers stuck to their ground firmly. They clashed with invading separatists, repulsing their advances and breaking doors and windows of their houses in the neighbourhood and continued to pay homage to the Year-1931 martyrs at Mazar-e-Shuhada at a three-hour-long function. It was on this occasion that head of then ruling PDP, Mehbooba Mufti, had to run for life at the venue, leaving behind her shoes. Sympathizers of militants and separatist leaders trooped into a female Councilor’s house in the evening, thrashed her and her sister but failed to force her resign.

Nevertheless, Year 2008 seems to have come as a turning point as neither NC nor any other mainstream political party has been able to hold a presentable gathering on such occasions in Srinagar or elsewhere. With some changes, the number of participants on I-Day and R-Day functions too seems to have shrunk to a trickle post-2008. Prasar Bharti’s CEO, Jawahar Sircar, who was in Srinagar last month, noticed with surprise that even the Director of Srinagar Doordarshan had sent to New Delhi only the posterior visuals of her national flag hoisting event on the Independence Day to hide her face from the viewers. It has happened first time since 1989.

Notwithstanding some lackluster shows on such occasions in the first year of Omar Abdullah’s coalition government in 2009, there was no activity in 2010. A Policeman went to the extent of hurling his shoes on the chief guest and the Chief Minister on I-Day function at Bakhshi Stadium in Srinagar. Over a hundred civilians died on streets from June 10^th to September 13^th in clashes with Police and CRPF. Around Sheikh’s birth anniversary, Chief Minister as well as his father remained clung to Iftaar parties and visits to residences of Congress leaders in New Delhi to save their regime. They spent not more than 5 minutes in a floral tribute to Sheikh at Hazratbal and went back to Delhi.

Even after restoration of peace and normality, there was no activity at Hazratbal or any other place on Sheikh’s birth anniversary next year. On September 8^th in 2010 as well as in 2011, State Information Department circulated brief four-paragraph handouts to cover Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s and Dr Farooq Abdullah’s remembrance rituals. On both occasions, bigger functions were in fact held in Jammu where Rattan Lal Gupta, Ajay Sadhotra and others delivered lengthy speeches on Sheikh at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan and MLA Bimla Luthra led a rally of the party workers.

“We have lately organized a big rally at Hazratbal on occasion of Madr-e-Meherban’s death anniversary on July 11^th. Now, we will be holding another on Sher-e-Kashmir birth anniversary on December 5^th. We can’t trouble people so frequently”, said a senior NC leader and former Minister. Party’s official spokesman, Tanvir Sadiq confirmed that there would be no public gathering at Hazratbal tomorrow. “Omar Sahab and others are scheduled to visit for a Fatiha Khwani in the morning. Then there would a collective Fatiha but no speeches”, Tanvir told Early Times. He said that instead of holding a major rally at Hazratbal, party workers would gather at all district headquarters and pay tributes to Sher-e-Kashmir.

END