Rajendra Bajpai
SRINAGAR, Feb 1, (1990): A Moslem separatist revolt has turned Kashmir into a volcano ready to erupt, the state’s former chief minister said on Thursday.
“We are sitting on a volcano, not knowing whether it will simmer down or blow up,” said Farooq Abdullah, who resigned in anger when Delhi sent in a hardline governor two weeks ago to help quell the uprising in Jammu and Kashmir state.
Last week, more than 60 people were shot dead in Kashmir’s Himalayan Valley, once a tourist haven, as Indian troops and militants demanding independence or secession to neighbouring Pakistan battled for supremacy.
“I must have failed my people somewhere. I must be responsible,” said Abdullah, whose administration was widely accused of corruption and incompetence in the face of a mounting secessionist campaign.
The revolt has intensified a war of words between India and Pakistan over the resource-rich territory. The neighbours have fought two wars over Kashmir since 1947 and Pakistan controls a third of the territory.
Abdullah, twice chief minister of Kashmir, urged fresh elections in India’s only Moslem-majority state to counter the militant campaign.
“You have to create confidence, bring your pride down and say you made mistakes,” he said in an interview. “Let the temperature come down and then hold free and fair elections.”
Some Indian politicians said public opinion in Kashmir was alienated by rigged state elections in 1987. That poll brought Abdullah’s National Conference Party to power in a coalition with the Congress Party of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Many young workers for the opposition Moslem United Front, angered by widespread vote fraud, joined militant groups such as the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, the politicians said.
The unrest was feeding on 40 years of neglect and mistrust by the Indian government, Abdullah said.
“We failed in meeting the requirements of the people. The green pastures we saw here turned out to be deserts,” he said, alleging Delhi did not give him the resources needed to create more year-round jobs. Kashmir depends heavily on seasonal tourism.
Pakistan is renewing calls to implement a 1948 U.N. resolution calling for a plebiscite so Kashmiris can choose independence, to stay in India, or to merge with Pakistan.
“Had there been a referendum 40 years ago people would have voted for India,” Abdullah said.
“There has been a loss of trust. We have to create that trust,” he said. “I don’t think we should feel the battle has been lost.”
He said he had quit politics for good. “I swear to you, I’ve had enough,” he said. “I have no political future. I just want to retire, to read and go around the world.”
