02-26-2006, 08:29 AM
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/feb/25spec.htm
The Rediff Special/ Aditi Phadnis
How wrong Mufti was
February 25, 2006
Recent events in Jammu and Kashmir prove that when power is the biggest glue holding an organisation together, the organisation falls apart very quickly when it goes out of power. Witness the goings on in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led People's Democratic Party.
For more than three months after Mufti had to step down from the chief ministership as part of an agreement with the Congress, he didn't address a press conference, didn't issue a statement, didn't hold a rally. At the end of January, while the Congress celebrated 100 days of being in office, his party's executive met.
The only concrete decision that came out of the meeting were three resolutions: one supporting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's proposal of self-rule for Kashmir, the demand that a Saarc university be located in Srinagar and the demand that Pakistan open a consulate in Srinagar to issue more visas, especially for the families hit by the earthquake.
Immediately after, one of the more important leaders of the PDP, Ghulam Hassan Mir, announced he didn't agree with the self-rule proposal of the general. It was not the proposition of self-rule, it was the manner in which the resolution had been passed that he differed with, he said. He charged that there had been no discussion in the meeting and merely a fiat by Mehbooba Mufti didn't make it the official line of the party.
So all is not happy in the Mufti dovecote. His MLAs feel the ministers are all sold to the Congress, the ministers keep compromising on core promises made in the halcyon days of 2002 when the PDP swept to power and there is no real visible politics. This is usually dangerous in Jammu and Kashmir -- where there is no visible politics, it probably means it is happening behind the scenes with those underground.
The Rediff Special/ Aditi Phadnis
How wrong Mufti was
February 25, 2006
Recent events in Jammu and Kashmir prove that when power is the biggest glue holding an organisation together, the organisation falls apart very quickly when it goes out of power. Witness the goings on in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led People's Democratic Party.
For more than three months after Mufti had to step down from the chief ministership as part of an agreement with the Congress, he didn't address a press conference, didn't issue a statement, didn't hold a rally. At the end of January, while the Congress celebrated 100 days of being in office, his party's executive met.
The only concrete decision that came out of the meeting were three resolutions: one supporting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's proposal of self-rule for Kashmir, the demand that a Saarc university be located in Srinagar and the demand that Pakistan open a consulate in Srinagar to issue more visas, especially for the families hit by the earthquake.
Immediately after, one of the more important leaders of the PDP, Ghulam Hassan Mir, announced he didn't agree with the self-rule proposal of the general. It was not the proposition of self-rule, it was the manner in which the resolution had been passed that he differed with, he said. He charged that there had been no discussion in the meeting and merely a fiat by Mehbooba Mufti didn't make it the official line of the party.
So all is not happy in the Mufti dovecote. His MLAs feel the ministers are all sold to the Congress, the ministers keep compromising on core promises made in the halcyon days of 2002 when the PDP swept to power and there is no real visible politics. This is usually dangerous in Jammu and Kashmir -- where there is no visible politics, it probably means it is happening behind the scenes with those underground.