Power was then passed on to his eldest son Farooq Abdullah—a medical doctor. He contested from Ganderbal in 1983, 1987 and 1996 and won each time. The seat had earlier been represented by NC candidates in 1957 and 1962.
“People still remember the sacrifices of Sheikh Abdullah. They vote for NC as a tribute to him 27 years after his death,” says Shabir Masoodi, lawyer and son of Moulana Masoodi, NC's founder general secretary.
Kashmir’s voters, though, can be unsparing. In 2002, for the first time in the family's history, the Abdullahs were shaken when the NC’s chief ministerial candidate and Farooq's son, Omar Abdullah, faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of a little-known candidate of the newly formed People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Qazi Muhammad Afzal. Observers believed that this was the voters’ way of punishing the Abdullahs for having taken their constituency too much for granted.
Kashmir’s history had turned bloody by then and militants ruled the valley but the Abdullahs, it seemed, had not cared enough for the people. “Rather than look into the grievances and sufferings of this area, Farooq Abdullah, who was elected from Ganderbal in 1996, spent most of his time abroad during his six-year tenure,” says Abdul Rashid Lone. Rashid’s father Haji Gulam Rasool Lone, a block president of the National Conference, had been killed by militants in September 2001. “Nobody except some local leaders visited our home after the horrifying incident,” says Rashid.
Yet from somewhere in the wilderness, Sheikh Abdullah’s voice still called and people were behind his heirs. Among the many things that he did for his people was pass the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, commonly known as “Land to Tiller Act” in 1950. It gave land rights to farmers who tilled the land for landowners. “The new law ended landlordism in the state,” says M. Y. Teng, scholar and Sheikh Abdullah’s biographer.
Yet holding on to the lion’s lair can be a difficult proposition. “The new generation does not know who Sheikh Sahib was. They want development, employment wand better educational facilities. They ask why we still have just 52 per cent literacy in Ganderbal and why we have only one degree college in the area,” says trader Gulam Rasool Ganaie. During his election campaign in 2008, Omar Abdullah, currently the state’s youngest chief minister, apologised for his party's mistakes during 1996-2002 and promised his voters that NC, if voted to power, would bring about a revolution in the development of Ganderbal and the rest of of the state.
“Omar Abdullah is praised for his honesty. People have faith in him. They only hope he will not repeat the mistakes that his father committed after winning the 1996 elections. Now it’s up to him to keep his word,” Ayobe Sabir, a local journalist tells TSI. And of course, Omar Abdullah has a lineage to live up to. And in Ganderbal, lineage does matter.
“People still remember the sacrifices of Sheikh Abdullah. They vote for NC as a tribute to him 27 years after his death,” says Shabir Masoodi, lawyer and son of Moulana Masoodi, NC's founder general secretary.
Kashmir’s voters, though, can be unsparing. In 2002, for the first time in the family's history, the Abdullahs were shaken when the NC’s chief ministerial candidate and Farooq's son, Omar Abdullah, faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of a little-known candidate of the newly formed People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Qazi Muhammad Afzal. Observers believed that this was the voters’ way of punishing the Abdullahs for having taken their constituency too much for granted.
Kashmir’s history had turned bloody by then and militants ruled the valley but the Abdullahs, it seemed, had not cared enough for the people. “Rather than look into the grievances and sufferings of this area, Farooq Abdullah, who was elected from Ganderbal in 1996, spent most of his time abroad during his six-year tenure,” says Abdul Rashid Lone. Rashid’s father Haji Gulam Rasool Lone, a block president of the National Conference, had been killed by militants in September 2001. “Nobody except some local leaders visited our home after the horrifying incident,” says Rashid.
Yet from somewhere in the wilderness, Sheikh Abdullah’s voice still called and people were behind his heirs. Among the many things that he did for his people was pass the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, commonly known as “Land to Tiller Act” in 1950. It gave land rights to farmers who tilled the land for landowners. “The new law ended landlordism in the state,” says M. Y. Teng, scholar and Sheikh Abdullah’s biographer.
Yet holding on to the lion’s lair can be a difficult proposition. “The new generation does not know who Sheikh Sahib was. They want development, employment wand better educational facilities. They ask why we still have just 52 per cent literacy in Ganderbal and why we have only one degree college in the area,” says trader Gulam Rasool Ganaie. During his election campaign in 2008, Omar Abdullah, currently the state’s youngest chief minister, apologised for his party's mistakes during 1996-2002 and promised his voters that NC, if voted to power, would bring about a revolution in the development of Ganderbal and the rest of of the state.
“Omar Abdullah is praised for his honesty. People have faith in him. They only hope he will not repeat the mistakes that his father committed after winning the 1996 elections. Now it’s up to him to keep his word,” Ayobe Sabir, a local journalist tells TSI. And of course, Omar Abdullah has a lineage to live up to. And in Ganderbal, lineage does matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment