India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU

Vol. 16 :: No. 06 :: Mar. 13 - 26, 1999

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COVER STORY

A positive outlook

Interview with Farooq Abdullah.

Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah is perhaps the only important figure in Jammu and Kashmir who is not pessimistic about events to come this summer. Evidently unruffled by recent massacres in the Jammu region, the State's deepening economic problems, and reports of the erosion of the National Conference's electoral base, Abdullah projects an almost disquieting confidence in his ability to handle any crisis. In this interview to Praveen Swami in Jammu, he discussed the emerging situation in the State after the meeting between Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajapayee and Nawaz Sharif, the ideological basis for his alignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as the more immediate problems that have beset his Government.

Now that the initial euphoria surrounding the meeting between Prime Ministers Vajpayee and Sharif has died down, do you believe that there have been any tangible gains towards a resolution of the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir?

I think so. The meeting was not a thing of which I expected there would be an immediate positive fallout. None of us expected it, not even the two Prime Ministers. But it is a step in the right direction. Talks have started. The ice has thawed. It will take time before it produces results. And I am sure that Jammu and Kashmir is one of the places where we will notice a substantial improvement in the situation.

It is being argued that the massacres of the night of February 19 are a sign of things to come this summer, and that Nawaz Sharif is in no position to rein in the fundamentalist groups based in Pakistan. What is your assessment?

No, I think we will have a good summer. What happened here was unfortunate. But it took place in the most isolated area and difficult terrain of our State. The terrorists had an edge because we were not present there. We have seen our shortcomings, and I am optimistic that we will be able to overcome them and meet their challenge. There are a lot of forces in Pakistan who will never want the relationship with India to improve. We in India will have to face them, just as Nawaz Sharif has to face them.

Politically, things seem less simple. In Jammu and Kashmir, there have been at least three forces which seem to advocate a revival of the Owen Dixon Plan, which suggested a partition of the State on communal lines. First, various think-tanks close to the United States Government appear to have endorsed some version of the idea. Second, your MLAs in Rajouri, Poonch and Doda have asked to be separated from Jammu province. And, finally, figures close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Jammu have suggested that Jammu province and Ladakh be made into a separate State, and that a referendum on the future of Kashmir be held in the Valley 10 years from now. Is there something brewing?

I don't think so. For a very long time, people have been advocating such things. It is not today that this has happened. The recent ethnic cleansing by terrorists in Jammu, if you look at it, has been done on the other side of the Chenab river. Now, the Chenab in the Dixon Line was to be the dividing line between India and Pakistan. Now the Inter-Services Intelligence, having driven Hindus out of the Kashmir Valley, is trying to do the same thing in the Rajouri, Poonch and Udhampur areas. It has not succeeded, by the grace of God, but the plan is still there. But I do not think there is anyone in India who will buy this plan.

What about your own MLAs, apart from others?

I think all that my MLAs are asking for is some more say in local affairs. They want planning in the province to be done in such a manner that their backwardness, terrain and other difficulties are taken into account. They have schools without teachers, colleges without professors, hospitals without doctors, and roads which do not exist. In Doda, all they had were jungles, and they've chopped all those down. That is why they now think that by having Ladakh-style regional autonomy, they might be able to do something.

Do you see that as a positive development?

I don't see it as being either positive or negative. It is a cry for help. I think I should not ignore it. But rather than carving out further areas, we should give them maximum support. I hope that the coming of panchayati raj should create the kind of infrastructure that goes to the basic levels.

Coming to development, you recently described the RSS as a "patriotic" body. But your State hasn't received very much back from the Government in return for your support. You are facing an acute financial problem.

What I said about the RSS was that they are not untouchables. In this country, we have people of various organisations. There are Muslim fundamentalists, Hindu fundamentalists, Sikh fundamentalists, for that matter even Christian fundamentalists. There are doves and hawks in all communities. I said that if you push the RSS to the wall, you will never be able to convert them into thinking that India is for all of us. That is what I meant. I meant do not push any organisation to the wall. Don't push anyone into a position from where they cannot turn back. That is all I said. I asked the people of India to be patient. After all, Mohammad Ali Jinnah carved out Pakistan on the basis that Hindus and Muslims could not live together. But in that very country, leaders opposed him. When Bangladesh was created, Jinnah was proved wrong. We have to prove the RSS wrong, not by pushing them to the wall but by convincing them with arguments.

Mehbooba Mufti says this is exactly what she wants when she calls for unconditional dialogue with terrorists. She says she doesn't want to push them to the wall. But you do not agree with her.

No, no, I do not want to push the terrorists to the wall either. But my point is that there has got to be some foundation for you to agree on first. Leave your arms, stop the killings, terrorism, and let's talk. Look what's going on in Pakistan. They have cinemas and cable television there, and you can buy liquor in every backstreet. But they don't go shooting innocent people to stop these things in Pakistan. So I say, we'll talk to you but for God's sake accept the basic constitutional values of India first.

A large number of your MLAs have been buying property in Jammu. Would it be fair to say that Kashmir's political class is preparing to desert a sinking ship?

No, not at all. From Sheikh (Abdullah) sahib's time, it has been customary for MLAs and MLCs from the Valley to be given plots here, and for those from Jammu to be given plots in Kashmir, for which a property was carved out near the Srinagar airport. For one, it was meant to save the State government the cost of providing long-term accommodation to them. Even I got a plot earlier, but it was later withdrawn. Second, I am basically thinking about the future. As we get older, all of us would like a place to be warm, since we can't take the winters of the Valley. I can't go to Delhi all the time, and with the pollution there I wouldn't want to.

The point is, Kashmir-based MLAs are moving here. No Jammu MLAs seem to be building houses in the Valley.

That is because the situation is such. The time will come when you will see that the demand for plots in Kashmir will be there, as it was before. Before 1984, it was difficult to keep Jammu MLAs away from Kashmir. This is a temporary phenomenon.

S. SUBRAMANIUM

The administration has come in for criticism. The State, for example, has borrowed from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank at 20 per cent interest. I understand this was discussed recently with the Finance Ministry in New Delhi.

Yes, we did discuss it. No State government has the facility to borrow from a bank for its overdraft as we do. That's how we're surviving. If we didn't have this facility, we'd have been finished. The Jammu & Kashmir Bank has bailed us out, but the bank is not giving us loans for nothing. If we gave them the Rs.970 crores we owe them back, they would be able to loan it out for much higher rates of interest. Now the Government of India told us that the Reserve Bank of India would give us money at a lower rate of interest. We asked them to ask the RBI. It hasn't come to us. I doubt if they would give us such a large overdraft.

From what you're saying, New Delhi does not seem to have been particularly helpful. Delhi hasn't waived the repayment of the security expenditure in Jammu and Kashmir either, unlike in Punjab or Assam. What have you got out of supporting the BJP?

I think I have at least stabilised Delhi, otherwise we would have been nothing more than what France was like once upon a time, or the good old days when I was young and there used to be a new President in Pakistan every second day. In today's world, you need a stable government in Delhi so that the international community with which we are trading have some confidence in us. I thought the Government would realise our difficulties, which it did as far as the proactive policy goes. I don't think anyone had such a proactive policy in Jammu and Kashmir as they have. So we have benefited in some ways, though no doubt financially we have not. We are still fighting with them on the Rs.1,200-crore security loan they must waive. They waived Rs.8,500 crores in Punjab. I'm sure we'll get it.

Finally, what do you expect from the panchayat elections this May? Some people are suggesting that they should not be fought on party lines.

All I expect is that the government should go down to the grassroots level. That is all. And if I agree to the proposal for a non-party election, all these parties will jump up and say Farooq Abdullah is scared of losing. I am happier going to the people with my party flag and losing than running away from the battle.