Srinagar, Jan 4: Former Union Minister and J&K Congress leader Prof Saifuddin Soz on Sunday said that the Congress may not be vibrant in Jammu and Kashmir but has its presence in the political landscape of UT.
In an exclusive conversation with Greater Kashmir, former Union Minister said he remained broadly a “Congress man” but cannot vouch that the party was in a vibrant situation here.
“But they have their presence here, the party structure is intact, they have their president, party is engaged in politics here as well,” he said. He however said that despite being a Congressman he cannot compel the party to think about the present political situation of J&K as he thinks.
“That cannot be possible. Congress is an all-India party. It has its constitution, its policy. I am a Ccongressman but I am not a slave to the Congress party. I deal with Sonia Ji occasionally and with Rahul Gandhi as well but I am a free man,” he said. He further said the party leadership at times consult him when it comes to policy making.
“Broadly, the Congress politics is very good for every religion. Congress party’s constitution is the togetherness of India. The togetherness of the nation is best explained through the constitution of All India Congress,” he told Greater Kashmir. “But as for the Kashmir situation, I don’t tell my party to join me and seek my special status. I am enough for that as a Kashmiri,” he said.
He said Congress was a national party and had limitations in seeking restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. “They cannot say they will use their might to restore the special status of J&K but otherwise, Congress will try as a secular party to own the people along with their thinking,” he said. About the prevailing situation in J&K, former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz said the J&K was going through an unstable situation in which people of Kashmir are feeling distraught with the Central Government.
“People have a permanent anxiety in their mind. The overwhelming majority of the people feel distressed with the abrogation of Article 370 by GoI,” he said. He said that the claims made by the present BJP government about the normal situation in J&K were far from reality. “They go on saying anything but the fact is that what they did in 2019 was not acceptable to the people of Kashmir,” he said.
Asked about the claims of a normalcy and peaceful situation in J&K, Prof Soz said the people have changed their strategy as going for shutdown has its own economical consequences.
“It is not a concession to the PM Modi Government. It is a change in the strategy because people thought that Hartal causes losses in the trade. But they are waiting for an opportunity. This is what I should say initially,” he said. He said the BJP government in 2019 abrogated Article 370 without consulting the people. “But I must tell you the people of J&K will never compromise on this Article because it came out of a struggle which gave a special status to J&K,” he said. He said if not the present generation but the next generation will fight for restoration of Article 370.
“Nobody here including Omar Abdullah has accepted the abrogation of Article 370. There is a mainstream group of politicians here and none of them believe that Article 370 has gone permanently,” he said.
He said people are afraid to speak up and express their views but “Article 370 was abrogated through a system of trickery.” “The Article 370 did not come on a platter but the State’s tallest leader Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah had struggled for it. Therefore, it is a kind of legacy that has been transferred to this generation,” former Union Minister said.
“How people act and react will depend on the circumstances, but it is in the mind and hearts of people.” About the present system of governance in J&K, Saifuddin Soz said that terming it a double engine government was a propaganda. “There is a proper constitution according to which the GoI has to perform within its four walls and the J&K government will perform within the same boundary. Nobody can go out of the constitution,” he said. About his political relationship with former Union Minister and former J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Soz said he had no compulsion to deal with individual political entities. “Ghulam Nabi Azad is a political entity. He is welcome to his ideas. I am not responsible for what he thinks of politics. About the performance of the present Omar Abdullah led government, Saifuddin Soz said the CM made a “good statement” recently that they should be judged at the end of their term.
“He (Omar) recently said that they have got a mandate for five years and people should not judge them in the first year as the government will prove its performance after completing five years,” he said. “I cannot guarantee that he can stand that test but we can wait.”