Of Omar's Labour and Farooq's Faux Pas

The protest over land refuses to die down. People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress had already earned the wrath of Valleyites and Jammuites alike, and now National Conference (NC) too has landed itself in trouble over the land row. The party was believed to take advantage of PDP and Congress' misdemeanour, but the statement of Farooq Abdullah that land be transferred to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has dented the prospects of NC quite badly. It has further opened the wide between the father-son duo of Farooq and Omar. When the land transfer issue rocked the Valley last month the NC patron was not in the State, in fact he was, as in the past, enjoying his stay in London while the Valley was burning. The NC president handled the crisis like a mature statesman and ensured that his party stays out from the quagmire in which Congress and PDP saw themselves sinking deep down the throat. His captivating speech in the House of Parliament not only won him many admirers in the UNPA camp, including its chairperson, but also presented him as a politician with brains - a rare combination these days. Even his beta noires were bowled over by his gesture.

There is no denying the fact that the father-son duo do not share a cordial relationship and are often seen at loggerheads. Omar has more often than not admitted that he is not so close to his father. "We have a formal relationship. He's not my buddy. I went to a boarding school and was a self-sufficient child.... We are twodifferent personlaities," Omar admitted. (Times Life, August 28, 2005).

The statement of Farooq about the land transfer has not only ruined the hard labour of Omar, but has further widened the gap between the father-son duo, the repercussion of which will soon be felt in the NC camp, most probably before the forthcoming Assembly elections.

There has been a spilit in NC for quite long now owing to 'generation gap' and different modus operandis. There are two camps within 'one' NC camp, comprising Omar's loyalists and Farooq's loyalists. And both the leaders have disliking for the other. Omar has over and again publicly vowed that the blacksheeps will be ousted from the party before the forthcoming Assembly elections, as was seen in 2002 when the then top notch and self-claimed 'credible' leaders of the party, including some ex-ministers, were 'shown the door'. The stage is set for the repeat of 2002.

In his guest column in 'Covert' magazine (July 1, 2008), Omar had overtly admitted that he tend to find difference between his colleagues and his father's colleagues. After Farooq's faux pas, the difference might have grown much further. Omar would be looking forward to tighten the noose on his father's loyalists, particularly those who are endorsing his father's statement. All said and done. Farooq has miscalculated the equation entirely and in a bid to win a battle he has taken his party to a stage where they might lose the war itself. His political experience notwithstanding, this is the high time Farooq leave his ego aside and learn some politics from his son.