‘We are the only party with a mass base in Jammu & Kashmir’

Omar Abdullah

How do you feel, being a successor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah?

There is no question of my being a successor to him. Jammu and Kashmir does not have a monarchy. My father has not passed me a a chair to occupy. I have contested and won two Lok Sabha elections. This success has come to me for what I am and not because who I am.

You have acquired the image of a pin-up boy, endowed with good looks and charm. How do you take to it?

I wish people reflected on my work as a minister, rather than my looks, which I have inherited. If I indeed have the image of a good-looking guy, let it be. I am not too bothered about it.

You have become a permanent fixture on the delegations accompanying Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during his foreign visits. Don’t you feel that you are being exhibited as a show-boy, the Muslim face of the NDA?

I do not perceive myself a Muslim leader. There are many others, who are better qualified to play this role. I represent the people of my constituency in Parliament. I believe that the prime minister takes me along on his foreign tours because of the portfolio of commerce, which I hold. As for my being the Muslim face of the NDA, I think if that would be so, the BJP would prefer propping up a Muslim from within its own ranks because that would get it a greater publicity mileage.

How much do you think you are like your father Farooq Abdullah?

We are two separate persons. He is far more charismatic and outgoing, comfortable in large gatherings. However, a part of his is within me. Naturally, there are many thing which we share.

And, what about your grandfather?

I did not get to see him much. I was barely 12 when he died. It is not possible for me to count his personal qualities. However, I admire him for his vision, qualities of leadership. He had the foresight to see that Jammu and Kashmir would be better off with India than Pakistan, its Islamic nationhood notwithstanding. Anybody can see today that India is a much stronger, stable and successful and secular nation, when compared to Pakistan.

What future do you foresee for Jammu and Kashmir in the given circumstances?

Its immediate future is clouded in turmoil. However, the recent path-breaking initiative of the prime minister would change the situation.

Do you have such high hopes from the proposed summit meeting between Vajpayee and Pakistan CEO Parvez Musharraf?

It is only a beginning, which would succeed in breaking the ice. The issues dogging the relationship between the two countries for the last 50 years would not get resolved in just one meting.

Why are you so much against the Hurriyat?

Because we do not accept its claim that it is the sole representative of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We feel that the National Conference too has a key role to play. As a party with the longest history in the state, the National Conference can not be wished away.

The Hurriyat contention is that it is they who count at the grassroots-level.

To the contrary, we are the only party with a mass base. If it was not true, why would National Conference workers be killed daily. On the other hand, the Hurriyat standing among people remains untested.

Which way do you think the Hurriyat would go hence?

A section of the Hurriyat, which is pro-Pakistan, like the Jamaat, would chalk out a new agenda for itself. The rest would adopt a different course, paving the way for some realignments. They have already started making different noises and are positioning themselves in line with a future shift. The change in Shabir Shah’s stand is a pointer to what is forthcoming. He first talked of UN-supervised elections.

Now, he is talking of elections overseen by intellectuals of India. Barring two or three leaders, no one in the Hurriyat can claim having a mass following. Even in the case of Maulvi Omar Farooq, the most popular Hurriyat leader, the appeal is religious, and not ideological. He may be talking of ‘‘Azadi’’ today, but I am sure, when the time comes, he would stand out with the same gusto with which he singed the 1983 pact, called the Double Farooq Pact, with my father in 1983 or went to receive former prime minister Morarji Desai at the Srinagar Airport when other parties had boycotted his visit.

There is a feeling that the National Conference Government in Jammu and Kashmir has failed to make any impact. Do you agree?

A false impression has been created that our government has not performed. Even six years of militancy have not been able to wipe off our achievements. There was a time when doctors at the Sher-e-Kashmir hospital used to be out and the militants used to be secure in beds meant for patients. However, we have brought an end to this situation. Today, parties like the Jamaat are charging us with ‘‘gaddari’’ for having built bridges and schools. If the creation of assets for people is ‘‘gaddari’’, well, we have this ‘‘gaddari’’ as our achievement.