“When we mess up really badly, their constituencies grow; when things normalise, people are earning, things are going well, their constituencies shrink a bit — that’s the nature of the beast”
SRINAGAR: Separatists fighting New Delhi’s rule in Kashmir only gain traction when mainstream politicians make mistakes in the politically sensitive region, state’s chief minister Omar Abdullah says.
“If we make a mistake, they gain traction,” Omar told the the Tribune newspaper in an interview.
“If we keep things on an even keel and everything goes all right, their ability to gain traction reduces.”
Omar, heir of a political dynasty in Kashmir heading a coalition state government with Congress party, says the separatists’ ability to attract support largely depends on how well his coalition government performed and how badly it handled any situation.
“I will not say that they (separatists) are marginalised. There will always be a section of society they represent; how large their constituency is, as I said, depends largely on how badly we do these things,” says the young Abdullah, who was once seen as giving hope to a region beset by decades of violence.
“When we mess up really badly, their constituencies grow; when things normalise, people are earning, things are going well, their constituencies shrink a bit — that’s the nature of the beast.”
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