By: R C GANJOO
RC GANJOOIn the hubbub of the political situation in JKUT, Begum Khalida Shah, President of the Awami National Conference and the eldest child of Sheikh Mohd Abdullah, has finally sheathed the sword against her brother, Dr Farooq Abdullah, the president of the NationalConference.
In an exclusive interview with the local podcast Asian Mail, she openly said, “I am not on speaking terms with my brother Farooq Abdullah.” As an eyewitness to the politicalhistory of Kashmir, Begum Khalida systematically described Kashmir’sHistory fromre-1947 to the present situation.
At 90, she remembers the history of Kashmir at her fingertips and speaks confidentially. After Sheikh’s death, Khalida turned a politician after her younger brother Farooq Abdullah was named National Conference president and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, side-lined G M Shah, Khalida’s husband and Sheikh’s longest political associate. Six weeks before Ghulam Mohammad toppled Farooq’s government, Khalida led a delegate session of the National Conference in May 1983, which expelled Farooq from basic membership of the party and elected Khalida as its new president. Thus NC was divided on legal and politicalbasis and NC (Khalida) came into being.
In an interview, she without mincing the words said while forming the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) right from day one her son Muzaffar Shah Sr vice President of Awami National Conference(ANC) energetically pursued the task of restoration of Art370 and 35 A of the alliance to take it to logical end. But her son’s candidature was not considered at the time of the assembly election, whereas Panther Party and CPM candidate Yusaf Targami were accommodated under PAGD . As a result of that Muzaffar Shah put his candidates under his banner of ANC when less time was left for his party for campaigning.
Comparing the political situation between the erstwhile J & K state and after reducing JKUT, she categorically said to bring the state to the present situation people and leadership of Kashmir is to be held responsible. She is of the opinion if all Kashmiris come together crossing their party and ideological lines, they can save Kashmir.
She plunged into politics in 1983 after the death of herfather when the National Conference was being split following political differences with her brother, Dr Farooq Abdullah. Her husband, G.M. Shah formed the National Conference (Khalida). It was converted into the Jammu andKashmir Awami National Conference in 1988 headed by her husband G.M. Shah. Khalida Shah, the eldest child in the Sheikh family, was the apple of her father late Sheikh Abdullah’s eye. Though she was barely 13 when she was married to G.M. Shah in 1948, she remained in constant touch with Kashmir politics. She used to visit jails to look after her father’s partyworkers and their family members when both her father and her husband were lodged in jail in 1953 for several years. She stood behind the National Conference like a rock and earned the respect of the masses and the workers. At that time, her brother Dr Farooq Abdullah was in London. ` She said her father never forced her to join politics. But she was intensely involved in politics along with my mother when her father and husband were in jail.
In fact, in 1983, there was tremendous pressure from different quarters that if she did not come into politics the National Conference would lose its image. She joined politics to preserve the heritage of the real National Conference. Because a plan was being hatched at that time to finish the NC. It was felt that the National Conference under her (Khalida) could save the ideology of the real National Conference. Thus, a government was formed.
According to her, she used to take care of the public, whereas her husband, G.M. Shah, as Chief Minister, used to run the administration.
Today Khalida Shah, at 90 with a heavy heart says, that the Kashmiri community has been treated like slaves by successive rulers imposed over the sensitive state of the country. But the rulers have forgotten to mark that the Kashmiri community ruled by heavy hands is not possible because the community is more concerned with keeping its head high with dignity and honour in any eventualities
She described that Kashmiris are basically peace-loving people. Some vested interests within the country and outside never wanted Kashmir to flourish. Kashmir was becoming prosperous economically, socially, and politically day by day. It was beyond the tolerance of some evil forces and trouble has been fomented. Kashmir is really in a bad shape today. Evil forces want to divide the state, divide the family, society and communities. It is a very meticulous plan. They succeeded at one point of time but won’t succeed again and again. She said Kashmiris ought to be trusted since they have joined the Indian domain. She feels sorry to say that Kashmirs were never trusted. If Kashmiris are trusted things will change automatically. Mistrust is the main reason behind the problems in Kashmir, she said
