Write-up by Omar’s political adviser triggers storm in NC

Tanvir Sadiq had advocated ‘for a reconciliation and reaching out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir’

A write-up focussing on domicile by the political adviser of National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Monday sparked a storm with Jammu and Kashmir’s oldest regional party.

Questioning the silence of the NC over the August 5 episode, which saw end of special status last year, NC’s chief spokesman Agha Syed Ruhullah Mehdi took to Twitter, saying, “If I am not reading wrong, you (adviser of Mr. Abdullah) are basically asking for 4G and their (the Centre) permission to let us start the political process and then all is well?”

Mr. Mehdi, a former Cabinet Minister and a three-time legislator, was responding to the write-up of Mr. Abdullah’s political adviser Tanvir Sadiq in a local newspaper recently. Mr. Sadiq, who was also detained in a crackdown launched on August 5 and released later, had advocated “for a reconciliation and reaching out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir” in the write-up.

“As a starting point for this, let all political prisoners arrested post August 5 be released before Eid, revisit the domicile law and lift all curbs on the Internet and telecommunication and let the end of the pandemic and the beginning of the political process be run along parallel lines. Kashmir, its people and the country need this,” Mr. Sadiq wrote.

However, Mr. Mehdi said the write-up “provokes questions”. “What is a political process for you? Only an election? If we go with a reason and stand our course, even being detained is a part of political process. Sorry, it’s insulting to ask them to ‘let us’,” Mr. Mehdi said.

He said his colleagues were detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA). “I wish and pray for their immediate release. But, believe our (house) detention is a political message and process itself. I am currently under house detention and I am honestly ready to be taken to a prison after what I say. But I would never ask them to let us. When you ask them to let us, it will naturally be on their terms,” he added.

Sources said the NC’s new narrative has many party leaders calling the top party leaders to clarify the stand on a series of events that took place since August 5. It’s first time a NC leader has come out in open to criticise his own party over adopting any new approaches.