The Hindu : A setback for the Sheikh clan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 13, 2002

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Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

A setback for the Sheikh clan

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR OCT. 12. Notwithstanding the fact that the National Conference has emerged as the single largest party in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly by bagging 28 seats, none of the members of the Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah family is in the legislature group, practically shutting the dynasty out of the party, which it founded and nurtured since 1931.

Though the loss of more than half the number of seats it holds in the current Assembly is in itself a major setback, the defeat of the NC president and Chief Ministerial candidate, Omar Abdullah, is the biggest shock for the party. There are several `firsts' for the NC in the election results: this is the first time the party has been swept out of power through the people's verdict; the first time its president has lost an election; and Omar Abdullah has becomes the first member of the Sheikh dynasty to face defeat.

Founded first as the Muslim Conference in 1931 by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and others and later converted into the secular-oriented National Conference in 1938, the party was close to the Kashmiris at least till 1989. The Kashmiris identified themselves with the party because they felt indebted to the late Abdullah who they believed could get them out of subjugation and poverty. Overnight, thousands of people were made landowners under the revolutionary `land to the tiller' law. His ouster in 1953 following differences with Jawaharlal Nehru added to his popularity. Even as he entered into an agreement with Indira Gandhi in 1975 to assume power, people still accepted him as their leader.

The Kashmiris' "love'' for the party saw the NC being returned to power with a brute majority in 1996. But the party's alliance with the BJP and the compromises which followed after it joined the NDA at the Centre seemed to be its undoing. A non-responsive administration and the party's widening communication gap with the masses contributed further in its rout.

The NC rank and file may take some time to reconcile themselves to the stunning defeat, but Omar Abdullah's exit from an important forum like the Assembly will distance it from the Sheikh dynasty. His father and Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, has decided to quit politics. Dr. Abdullah's younger brother, Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, faced a humiliating defeat with the highest margin of 22000 votes.

Again, for the first time, the NC legislature party leader will be from outside the Sheikh dynasty. Omar being the party president and Dr. Abdullah's cousin the general secretary may make little difference while taking important decisions involving the party's role in government formation.

"The NC's defeat has become history as the dynasty has been rejected by the Kashmiris,'' says Tahir Mohiuddin, Editor of the Urdu weekly, Chattan..

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