The National Conference-led Jammu and Kashmir government Wednesday moved a resolution urging the Centre to initiate a dialogue with elected representatives of the Union Territory for “restoration of special status, constitutional guarantees”, and to work out “constitutional mechanisms” for doing the same.
The move came a day after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stole the march on the issue, with its MLA Waheed Para moving a resolution in the Assembly opposing the revocation of J&K’s special status in 2019, done through abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution by the Centre.
The Omar Abdullah government’s resolution was clearly more carefully worded. It said the Assembly “reaffirms the importance of special status and constitutional guarantees” to Kashmir and “expresses concern” over their “unilateral removal”, and while urging the Centre to “initiate dialogue” to restore the same, emphasised that the process must safeguard “national unity” and “aspirations of the people”.
In contrast, Para’s resolution framed the sentiment of the House as opposed to the revocation of special status, saying: “This House opposes the revocation of special status of J&K and the constitutional disempowerment of Jammu and Kashmir through the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, and calls for its complete rescinding.”
He also called for restoration of the special status and constitutional guarantees “in their original, pristine form”.
Omar has given several signals since he led the NC to a big win in J&K’s first Assembly elections post-Article 370 abrogation that he may push the envelope on the issue but not too far. While restoration of Article 370 was part of the NC’s poll manifesto, as well as a promise that it would be one of the first issues on which it would move if it came to power, the Omar Cabinet stopped short and sought only restoration of statehood to J&K at its first meeting.
Its rivals dubbed it a climbdown, with the PDP even calling the move an indirect “ratification of the August 5, 2019, decision”. The People’s Conference reminded the NC of its poll promise on Article 370.
When the PDP’s Para put the NC in a spot Monday with his resolution in the Assembly, Omar slammed it as “politics for the cameras” and suggested that his government had refrained from raising the issue out of consideration for the fact that it was the first day of J&K’s first Assembly Session in six years.
The Omar government’s carefully worded move Wednesday indicates the tightrope walk the NC vice-president is doing, between balancing poll promises and relations with Delhi.
In an interview to The Indian Express following the poll win, Omar had said: “Look, 370 is part of the National Conference’s political ideology. But we have always said that it’s not a battle that’s going to end tomorrow. We’ve always said that this is a fight that is going to extend to a change of government at the Centre. I’ve been very careful to tell people time and again that you can’t expect to get back what was taken, from the people who took it from us.”
If that indicated that the NC was looking at the issue from a long-term perspective, Omar also talked about his government’s focus on restoration of statehood and development. “I would like to believe the honourable Prime Minister, who has committed to restoring statehood. I don’t recall a speech where he said statehood would be restored only when the BJP is in power, or that if the people of J&K do not vote for the BJP, they will be punished,” he said.
Notably, soon after the Omar Cabinet passed the resolution seeking restoration of statehood for J&K, he flew to Delhi for a series of meetings, including with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Sources in the Union government said these were “courtesy” meetings and conversations largely centred around seeking the Centre’s cooperation to further developmental works in the state. While the Cabinet resolution figured prominently, a source said, that was “the only political thing” on Omar’s agenda.
“In none of the conversations, he brought up the issue of Article 370. It would also have been rather odd to bring it up in the first meeting after coming to power as everyone knows the Modi government’s non-negotiable position on Article 370,” the source said.
Omar’s pussyfooting captures the complexities of the situation he finds himself in, with the vote for the NC seen as a vote against the August 5, 2019, decisions but with him heading a government that has very little powers. In fact, in an interview to The Indian Express before the announcement of the polls, Omar had stressed that he would not even contest given the diminished position of the CM in the Union Territory.
He changed his mind on that fairly quickly, but his speech in the Assembly Wednesday indicated Omar can’t afford setting aside the public sentiment regarding the abrogation of Article 370. That leaves him with the dilemma of whether to get into an open and continued confrontation with Delhi when armed with very little powers and with a fruitful ending unlikely.
In his interview to The Indian Express after the results, Omar also said: “We are not starting this innings with a view to getting into battles. We are honestly starting it with a view to having a good, healthy working relationship. How does getting into a fight (with the L-G) from Day One help me address the concerns of the voters of Jammu and Kashmir? At the end of the day, the people here didn’t vote for this alliance so that we keep fighting.”
A senior government source added that political attacks in public aside, Delhi has always seen Omar as a “pragmatic” politician it can negotiate with.
What is happening in J&K could be a reflection of that.
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