Dynast in paradise wants slice of heaven

If patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, regionalism is the first resort of the chauvinist.
Farooq Abdullah with son Omar Abdullah
Farooq Abdullah with son Omar Abdullah

If patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, regionalism is the first resort of the chauvinist. No other part of India has put patriotism to the test as much as Kashmir, a paradise that has become a purgatory of pain and infested with political families, which encourage, facilitate or use fear to maintain their fiefdoms and opulent lifestyles. The Abdullahs are a case in point. They are patriots of convenience when the going is good, milking the Indian state to keep them in style, but invoking the identity of the state when their political existence is threatened.

There was much glee in Islamabad last week, when former Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vindicated Pakistan of creating unrest in the Valley. He warned the Modi government, “Don’t be under the false impression that the unrest you are seeing in Kashmir has been ignited by Pakistan”. He accused Union ministers of provoking Pakistan, and thereby inviting attacks on Indian soldiers. The stone pelting syndrome started when Omar was running the state in 2010; I remember covering the violence. Omar was cowering in his official residence, in Christian Louboutin shoes and a cashmere pullover sporting a Cartier watch on his wrist. He was apprehensive of going out into the streets which were teeming with angry young Kashmiris. He preferred the safety of a helicopter.  “Are you the last Abdullah?” I asked. He laughed and said he certainly hoped so. But politics is the art of reincarnation by any means. After a terror attack in September  2013, Omar had hawkishly asked New Delhi to “look at other options” if Pakistan continued to wreak bloody mischief. So what has changed?

The Abdullah family has smelt blood. Mehbooba Mufti’s government is floundering  politically and administratively in Srinagar. Bypolls are in the offing. Well-funded secessionists and mullahs have been whipping up separatist sentiments and waving Pakistan flags around. So, Senior and Junior Abdullah have discovered Islamabad as their new constituency. A couple of weeks before Omar absolved Pakistan of playing a deadly role in engineering death and destruction in the Valley,  father Farooq refuted PoK was a part of India. “Kya yeh tumhare baap ka hai? (Is this your father’s property?), he roared at the Central government.

Ironically, like all dynasts, he was bred to believe that Kashmir is his baap’s  own property, indeed. His father Sheikh Abdullah, the founder of the National Conference, had brought him up to believe so. Without him, neither Farooq nor Omar would have inherited relevance in national politics. If it was not for the Nehru family —and Vajpayee once—who alternatively jailed and supported the Sheikh, and made his progeny Union ministers in various governments, Pakistan would never have acquired a voice, however phoney, in the Indian political system.

Dynasty plays a cardinal role in power play, from Donald Trump to Rahul Gandhi. National interest often takes second place to family fortunes. The perilous politics of the Abdullahs is not for Kashmir’s well being but for their own dynasty’s survival. The family had lost all relevance in its home state. Ironically, its significance to Pakistan is greater than its influence in India. Between the first Abdullah and the last, an endgame is being played out in Kashmir. If not checkmated in time, the loser will be India.

Ravi Shankar
ravi@newindianexpress.com

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