As Omar Abdullah prepares to take over as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, he will have to fall back on the history of the National Conference and that of his family. In the Sunday Express, Muzamil Jaleel traces the political journey of three generations of Abdullahs.
Farooq Abdullah with son Omar.
When Omar Abdullah takes over as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, he is likely to find himself weighed down by the burden of history. A scion of Kashmir’s first family, his biggest challenge will be the survival of his National Conference in the changing contours of Kashmir politics. Over the years, the party has drifted from its core political ideology, eroding its traditional base in Kashmir. With the People’s Democratic Party positioning itself as a representative of Kashmiri aspirations, Omar can only save his party by returning to its history and that of his family.
The story of the Abdullah family is intertwined with Kashmir’s politics. The interaction between the National Conference and the Congress too has been dominated by the 71-year-old relationship between the Abdullahs and the Nehru-Gandhi family, alternating between friendship and enmity. Now when the National Conference witnesses the second generational shift coinciding with a new alliance with the Congress, the Omar Abdullah-Rahul Gandhi friendship is creating a buzz. So, will Abdullah Jr be able to turn his party’s politics back to its original discourse, one that made its founder, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the undisputed leader of Kashmir?
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