Political Upheaval in Jammu and Kashmir

Whatever is happening in Jammu and Kashmir politics is unfortunate. Nobody could object to differences between the ruling party and the opposition in politics, but there is a definite limit to differences in parliamentary democracy. Politics should not be so directionless and shallow that it creates a situation of political instability. It is the result of this political situation that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced his resignation after being emotionally hurt. However, it was unnecessary.

Kinds of Allegations
The opposition levels several kinds of allegations against the government, and the head of the government has to function, tolerating them. The allegation leveled by People's Democratic Party [PDP] of his involvement in the sex scandal case is totally baseless.

In a restive and unstable state like Jammu and Kashmir, politics needs to be sensitive and alert. PDP's attitude was exactly the opposite. After all, the manner in which Mehbooba Mufti rushed to the assembly speaker's seat and snatched the mike from him on July 28 was very irresponsible behavior by a legislative assembly member. The irony is that she is not at all repentant about her behavior. On the contrary, she continued to accuse the speaker of behaving indecently.

Role of Mainstream Political Leaders
In reality, PDP's attitude cannot be called the role of a responsible political party from any angle. The real role of mainstream political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir is to work toward foiling such attempts, be it from Omar Abdullah or Mehbooba Mufti.

On the issue of peace and development, there has to be political unity in Jammu and Kashmir. In contrast, Mehbooba is engaged in the politics of conflict. There is no problem in accepting that she is in a way making things easy for separatist forces. This is not going to do any good to anyone.

There does not appear to be any justifiable reason to take up what occurred at Shopian in this manner. It would have been in everybody's interest to make efforts to stop recurrence of such incidents and give solace to the victims.

Future Ahead
After all, what do Mehbooba and her PDP want? There are no elections at this time that she could take political advantage of it. But, being the head of the government, Omar should also have refrained from emotional extremism. He has got majority in the assembly and there is no danger at the moment of his government being reduced to a minority.

Omar should understand that he is leading a state whose foundation is being shaken by cross-border terrorism and internal secessionism, and disruptive forces have been trying to keep it at unrest. At this time, the need is to work together to restore normalcy in Kashmir.