Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is up against the full fury of Kashmir and he has emerged none the better for it. His leadership is now openly questioned and the murmurs for his ouster are getting louder by the day. And he might as well have been on his way if centre did not see him such a best bet in Kashmir.

But did young Omar really get it wrong as he is being routinely accused of having done? He himself thinks his presence is irrelevant to the prevailing crisis and that the present crisis could have erupted with anybody in charge. And his explanation finds many nodding heads both in Kashmir and in New Delhi.

Even on the face of it, the reasoning looks so disarming. After all, the deafening din on the street is about Azadi. People make no other demand, neither for good governance, nor for employment.  Omar apparently has done nothing to queer the pitch. He has displayed such boyish-like innocence and been so sincere in his descriptions of the prevailing situation. Unlike any of his predecessors Omar does a refreshing  job of describing Kashmir in all its complexity without seeming to colour it with his party's agenda. Even in his daily conduct, Omar seems driven in good faith to do the good. But somehow all these qualities don't add up. And by now Omar is himself  acutely conscious of this failing. This is why he talks of rebuilding his reputation ''brick by brick''.

To me the biggest failure of his government is its impersonal nature,  its sterile operation, its going about its business in a vacuum. It almost seems as if the sleekness of Omar’s communication gadgets on which he so much dotes has somehow rubbed off on his government, making it too apathetically sophisticated for the common man to relate to it.

His government appears silent. And this silence is only heightened by the din of the burgeoning mobs of the stone throwers on the streets.  I say silence, as the word while it signifies lack of noise it also means that something, somewhere is not well.  It also doesn't reflect anything highly undesirable.

Ever since, it took power around one and a half years ago, the only noise that can be associated with this government is that of protests. Last year, it was about Shopian and this year it is against the ongoing killings of youth.   The government seems to have found such a divine poise that nothing seems to perturb it.  There may no doubt be some official stirrings, some routine administrative work in progress, but there is no perception of any  movement.

Is it the style of the Chief Minister to function in this way,  or a deliberate strategy or is it that the situation is going on regardless. It is difficult to tell. So far CM’s approach has been shy and furtive, and more of an open-ended, day to day nature rather than informed by a political narrative - or even some kind of a policy undertone - associated with political parties, that too of the pedigree of National Conference. True, a governance centric agenda cannot be faulted but a governance pursued for its own sake renders the entire enterprise of government sterile and by and by leads to a disconnect with the people.  And it is this disconnect that while not sufficiently a cause for the current turmoil has nevertheless  contributed to its eruption.

But is this problem only of Omar's? Can we say that National Conference as a political party is any different?  It isn’t. The party continues to be a very pale shadow of its former self that died with the 1975 Accord with New Delhi. Over the years, the party has exhibited a surprising lack of political energy and the stamina for a political fight, let alone a struggle. 

Perhaps the one episode that symbolizes it best is the party's meek surrender to New Delhi after passing an autonomy  resolution in the assembly with a two-third majority in 1999. The party didn't even fake a  protest after BJP led central government summarily rejected the resolution. It is a different matter that Begum Abdullah died around the same time, as if on cue, to save the face of Farooq  Abdullah and provide cover to  his continuation in the national coalition government.  

There has been no talk of autonomy ever since, except as a handy, convenient and readymade slogan that serves short term political ends. It also fulfills the party's need for something in the form of political wares, gives it a distinct identity and something to go with to people. But the agenda has since been appropriated and overtaken by the PDP. And PDP has taken it forward, further forward, and made it into a smart mainstream alternative to the separatist agenda: atleast, in its semantics. There's self rule, demilitarization and joint management, the terms that lie outside the pale of NC's autonomy. Yes, there was the talk of autonomy plus by Omar Abdullah  during polls, but for now it is the power that pre-occupies the government.

This makes NC unique in its approach. Wresting government back after being spectacularly dislodged from power in a vote in 2002 - the first time the party lost an election in past 60 years - the party has yet to outline a development plan or articulate a robust political agenda. The approach so far has generally been to respond to the developing situation. And respond to it in a gubernatorial, or worse in a bureaucratic fashion. Somehow the feel of a politician as the people's aspirational and, of course, inspirational representative is missing. Omar who made the famous parliament speech is missing.

There's an urgent need for NC to re-invent itself, to take over a role consistent with its larger historical role - albeit it also needs to make amends for the gaping inadequacies in the discharge of that role. Need is for the party to stand up, get down to the issues that matter and weigh with the people and build its politics around them. 

But NC seems to have stopped doing this. Not now. In fact, long long back. One can argue with some confidence that NC has ceased to be a party of the mass politics in the state since the 1975 Indira-Sheikh accord. The accord, in a sense, dumbed down the party and fundamentally altered its priorities. From a party of masses, the NC changed into a party of power. 
 
And if the past one and a half years are any guide, this power mantra continues unchanged. With hopefully more than four years of rule still left for this government, it is time that Omar the politician shows up. Along with a new leader, NC also needs some rejuvenation and of course, revitalization.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST