All is not well in J&K's multi-party Gupkar Alliance

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which is a conglomeration of political parties who had come together to restore Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)’s special status, are struggling to project a united front and keep their political entity intact.

The Gupkar Alliance seems to be on shaky ground, as the leaders of the different constituents take potshots at each other at every opportunity much to the embarrassment of the other allies in the group.

The PAGD—a new political formation currently comprising the J&K National Conference (NC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Awami National Conference (ANC)—has unanimously demanded the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A and want J&K’s constitutional position within the Union of India to be restored as it existed on August 4, 2019.

There seems to be unanimity among them when it comes to the restoration of the restive region’s semi-autonomy and statehood and that too on paper. Otherwise, they are busy blaming each other for J&K’s current situation.

According to PDP spokesperson Najmu Saqib, the PDP leadership has asked its cadres not to issue any statement that could hurt the PAGD’s common minimum programme. Saqib told The Federal that the party president Mehbooba Mufti categorically directed all the office bearers not to issue any statement that is “detrimental to the unity of the PAGD” and which can potentially hurt the “larger interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Saqid added, “From our side, we won’t be a party to the war of words.” However, the verbal slugfest between the leaders of the Gupkar Alliance continues unabated.

Also read: Gupkar leaders liken Kashmir situation to trouble of 1990s; blame Centre for unrest

Meanwhile, on December 13, normal life in parts of Ladakh was thrown out of gear as a number of social and political groups joined hands to demand “restoration of statehood” and “constitutional safeguards” for the desert region bordering China and Pakistan. Two leading groups comprising People’s Movement for 6th Schedule for Ladakh (PMSL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) were at the forefront of the agitation. They threatened to hit the streets in protest in case their demands were not met.

The protest strike in Ladakh prompted the Srinagar-based analyst and commentator, Naseer Ahmad, to state that in the Ladakh region the “mainstream parties fight together for a joint cause”, but, in Kashmir, “the mainstream parties fight with each other for no cause.”

The high-pitched rhetoric and rants of the leaders of the different political constituents of the Gupkar Alliance against each other have become a source of embarrassment for their allies and rivals alike. The mudslinging started when Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister and vice president of the NC, blamed the PDP for the prevailing circumstances in J&K during his just-concluded tour of the Chenab Valley.

“Lamhou’n ne khata ki, sadiyou’n ne saza paayi (Faux pas of moments made generations to suffer for centuries). For how long will the people of Jammu and Kashmir suffer because of that one decision of the PDP (of forging a coalition partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2015)?” Omar Abdullah asked rhetorically in his public speech. And, added, “The National Conference offered unconditional support to the PDP to prevent (late) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed from entering into a coalition with the BJP. He did not accept (our offer) and the people of J&K suffered immensely.”

Junior Abdullah’s statement was bound to evoke reactions from the PDP camp.

Naeem Akhtar, former cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government and the then government spokesperson, argued that the PAGD came into existence primarily due to the initiative taken by the PDP to have a united political grouping in order to provide a platform for all parties to jointly fight for their rights.

“It was the PDP’s initiative with the sole aim of continuing our democratic struggle in a peaceful manner,” Akhtar said, while also cautioning that “there was no scope for internal bickering or point scoring at this moment.”

Nonetheless, the NC leaders upped the ante against its current PAGD associate, the PDP.

Also read: Govt building Godse’s Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti lashes out

Shameema Firdous, presently the president of NC’s Women Wing, took a dig at the PDP while addressing a women’s convention in north Kashmir’s Handwara. “Hundreds of innocent youths were killed with bullets while many were blinded due to the pellet-firing shotguns in Kashmir during the PDP-BJP coalition government. All in the name of maintaining law and order. Is this what the PDP refers to as Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s ‘khwab’ (dream)?” Firdous asked in a rather emotional manner.

“As of today, all of us in Kashmir are caged in our own land. If any young man raises his voice, even against power curtailment or lack of potable water supply, he too will be put in prison. If anyone offers resistance he or she will be booked under the PSA (Public Safety Act),” she pointed out.

Firdous went on to pose a question to the former CM and president of the PDP. “I want to ask Mehbooba Mufti where her conscience was when thousands of youths in Kashmir were being blinded by the pellets?” she said, adding that had her father not forged a partnership with the BJP which she also endorsed later, the situation in J&K would have been completely different today.

In Kashmir, a video of the NC leader’s short and hard-hitting speech is being widely shared on various social media platforms.

At the time of PAGD’s creation in 2019, the Sajad Lone-led J&K Peoples Conference (PC) and the Shah Faesal-led J&K Peoples Movement were also part of the new grouping. They soon parted ways with PAGD.

Earlier, Sajad Lone too had launched a diatribe against Omar Abdullah. Lone was reacting to Abdullah’s recent remarks that “the NC was the sole saviour of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, which the latter had made during his recent visit to the Chenab Valley.

“The whole universe knows that Omar Abdullah Sahib was among the first ones to bring the BJP to Kashmir. In Kashmiri, we use the expression ‘Tarbaaz’. By God’s will (In sha Allah), Omar Abdullah sahib has now become Kashmir’s biggest ‘Tarbaaz’ (a liar of the highest order)!,” Lone said. He also alleged that many kids had lost their lives in Kashmir in 2010 when Omar Abdullah was at the helm of affairs as CM of J&K.

In public perception, the Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party (JKAP) and Lone’s Peoples Conference are the BJP’s proxies in J&K. Major political players described both as the BJP’s “B-team” and/or “King’s Party”. Though, ironically, these parties accuse the PDP and NC of aligning with the saffron party.

Last week, in an indirect reference to JKAP, Mehbooba Mufti alleged that the “proxy parties were aiding the BJP to manufacture unconstitutional decisions as constitutional” keeping an eye on the future Assembly elections and electoral arithmetic.

Altaf Bukhari, JKAP president, wasted no opportunity to hit back.

“The PDP is the creation of L K Advani. This party has only driven the youth of J&K to graveyards. They described their emotional blackmailing exercises as politics,” Bukhari alleged.

Both Bukhari and Lone are of the view that Article 370 can be restored only through an Act of Indian Parliament or by the Supreme Court ruling. In their political speeches and statements, they do not lay much emphasis on return of the region’s semi-autonomy and special status, but often insist on either pragmatism or developmental agenda. Though, at times, they do issue statements in favour of restoration of statehood and Article 370.

Another interesting element is the re-emergence of former CM of J&K, Ghulam Nabi Azad, also considered a Congress dissident now, on the altered political landscape of J&K. During his recent tours to the valleys of Kashmir and Chenab, Azad repeatedly mentioned that the focus should be on the reinstatement of statehood, and, for now, the larger issue of restoration of Article 370 should be put aside.

On the expected lines, Azad’s statement riled up major political players operating in the region. They interpreted his remarks as shifting of goalposts and deviation from the main issue.

Riyaz Ahmad, a veteran political analyst, is of the view that the war of words amongst J&K’s major political formations, more specifically between the NC and PDP, indicated how “powerless and directionless” the parties are and how they indulge in “political slugfest” to “pull down each other” at critical junctures rather than “offering any substantial political resistance and challenge to New Delhi”.

“Do these parties have a roadmap to challenge the decision made on August 5, 2019 or is there a realisation that what happened then is fait accompli? Ahmad told The Federal, adding that, “if one ignores the posturing part, it seems the party leaders won’t mind contesting the Assembly election in the future as and when the statehood is restored.”

On his part, NC’s president and former CM of J&K Farooq Abdullah sounded optimistic in relation to the restoration of Article 370. He urged his cadres to pull up their socks to emulate the farmer’s struggle in Punjab and Haryana. “We will fight for our rights peacefully as we do not believe in violence,” senior Abdullah said during his address at the day-long party convention at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan, Jammu.

He also alluded to the repeal of the three farm laws by the BJP-led government in New Delhi after the farmers put up a prolonged resistance during which over 700 farmers lost their lives. “We had joined hands with Mahatma Gandhi’s India, not with that of Nathuram Godse’s. Communal politics is not in anybody’s interest,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to douse flames and not allow internal bickering to harm the PAGD’s interests, the PDP paid tributes to late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on his 116th birth anniversary. “…His (Sheikh Abdullah’s) contribution in shaping the political landscape of the state, in tune with its multi-cultural ethos, will always be cherished”, said the PDP statement, probably as an attempt to offer an olive branch and keep the Gukpar Alliance alive.