by Harihar Swarup

From Baramula to national mainstream
Saifuddin Soz has made history in the Lok Sabha. No government was ever defeated by one vote in the annals of Parliament and he was single-handed responsible for ouster of the BJP-led government. Professor Soz, or Soz Sahib, as he is popularly known, had to face the consequences; he was expelled from the National Conference ending his lifelong association with the party founded by the late Sheikh Abdullah.

by Hari Shankar Vyas
Thinking President at receiving end
PRESIDENT K.R. Narayanan is upset at the innuendoes being hurled at him. He wanted to go into history as a thinking President with a philosophy of his own. But his philosophy is being interpreted as his agenda.

75 Years Ago

Railway official’s transfer
THE Saharanpur public and particularly the friends of Mr A.C. Thornton, the late N.W.Ry. Head Train Examiner, are very sorry to part with him on account of his transfer.

by Harihar Swarup
From Baramula to national mainstream

Saifuddin Soz has made history in the Lok Sabha. No government was ever defeated by one vote in the annals of Parliament and he was single-handed responsible for ouster of the BJP-led government. Professor Soz, or Soz Sahib, as he is popularly known, had to face the consequences; he was expelled from the National Conference ending his lifelong association with the party founded by the late Sheikh Abdullah.

Soz is both bitter and happy; bitter against Dr Farooq Abdullah and happy at the turn of events which almost overnight pitch-forked him from a Kashmiri leader to what he calls “the national mainstream”. He accuses Dr Abdullah of “betraying the legacy of Sher-e-Kashmir” by aligning with the BJP. Scrupulously refraining to take the name of the late Sheikh and repeatedly describing him as Sher-e-Kashmir, Soz says the tallest of the Kashmir leader rejected the two-nation theory and led Kashmiri people to join the secular India but “Sher-e-Kashmir’s son” betrayed that glorious benefaction.

In an interview to me Soz Sahib asserted he voted against the BJP out of conviction and with a view to strengthening the progressive, secular and democratic fabric in the country. Obviously, when he cast his vote in the Lok Sabha against the BJP-led government he never thought he would be instrumental in the fall of the ministry but when someone took a step out of deep conviction the reward was also bound to be bountiful.

Soz Sahib has been flooded with messages — phone calls, letters, greetings and telegrams — from members of the minority community all over country. He never thought so much of goodwill would be generated for him. Of course, an euphoria has been created in the valley and his popularity touched a new high. In the event of an election his victory is certain. Though Soz Sahib has been expelled from the National Conference, he retains his membership of the Lok Sabha and provisions of the anti-defection law do not apply in his case. He says firstly his party did not issue a whip and secondly, NC has only a strength of three members and if one breaks away, the party splits in Parliament.

What are his future plans? Soz Sahib says the door of all secular parties, including the Congress, are open for him but he does not propose to join any of them. He would undertake a tour of the valley, assess the mood of the people, and then decide whether to form a political party of his own. Farooq Abdullah, he says, has done great harm to the National Conference and “may be the burden of carrying on the legacy of Sher-e-Kashmir falls on me”. His immediate task would be to strengthen democracy in Kashmir and make out a case for the larger autonomy of the state.

A confidant of Farooq Abdullah and a senior National Conference leader, Soz Sahib had moved away from Farooq when the J & K CM decided to support the BJP-led government and sharply attacked the NC supremo for aligning with what he called “a communal party”. The wedge continued to widen and culminated in Soz’s defiance of the NC’s directive to vote in favour of the government.

Prof Soz has his own perspective in the event of a mid-term poll: “Dalits and minorities may come together and overwhelmingly vote for secular forces which, of course, includes the Congress”.

The late Sheikh Abdullah was, in fact, Soz’s mentor. He inspired him to join the National Conference giving up his academic career. Soz Sahib came into the limelight only after Farooq became the Chief Minister in 1982. The late Sheikh’s son-in-law, G.M. Shah, popularly known as Gul Shah, turned against Soz and scuttled the proposal to field the young university teacher to seek election from Baramula in 1980. Farooq himself handpicked Soz as NC candidate in the byelection from Baramula Lok Sabha constituency in June, 1983. Soz won hands down made a mark in Parliament and came to the notice of the late Indira Gandhi. This was a turning point in his political career.

Soz Sahib represented the people of Baramula till 1991, retaining the seat in the 1984 and 1989 elections. By that time militancy had touched a new high in Kashmir and the election could not be held in the state along with the rest of the country in 1991. Soz Sahib was forced to remain in wilderness for seven years evidently for no fault of his.

Soz Sahib says that seven years in wilderness were most educative in his life. When he ceased to an M.P., he made untiring efforts to keep the National Conference alive in the valley. He kept in touch with the party cadres at a time when the militants’ writ ran in Srinagar and adjourning areas. In fact, he was the lone spokesman of the National Conference then not loosing touch with the people. Farooq had at that time, virtually abandoned the people and sojourned mostly in London.

Soz had to pay the price to keep the NC alive during those bleak days. His daughter, working as Assistant Professor with the Institute of Management and Public Administration in Srinagar was kidnapped by militants. His houses in Baramula and Srinagar were burnt down by militants and the only abode he possessed was the M.P.’s flat at Delhi’s Shahjehan Road. He was allowed to retain the accommodation on the plea that elections could not be held in Kashmir.

Soz Sahib made a backdoor entry in Parliament having been elected to the Rajya Sabha from J and K and was inducted in the Deva Gowda government as Minister for Environment and Forest in 1996. He was elected from the Baramula constituency in the 1998 election. He is now the hero of Baramula and may play a role at the national level as minority leader. Soz Sahib is likely to be a great asset to the secular forces, particularly in the Congress, in the event of a mid-term poll whenever they are held.

Delhi grapevine
by Hari Shankar Vyas
Thinking President at receiving end

PRESIDENT K.R. Narayanan is upset at the innuendoes being hurled at him. He wanted to go into history as a thinking President with a philosophy of his own. But his philosophy is being interpreted as his agenda. The kind of press coverage he has been receiving these days is also a source of distress for him. Yet, he is handling all these things personally, taking little help from his aides. Though he has been consulting constitutional and legal experts, he is keeping his eyes and ears open all the time. This is for the first time that a President has been meeting the chiefs of the Intelligence Bureau and RAW every day and taking feedback from them. However, since he does not depend on his aides, it is a matter of guess only as to how he can verify and crosscheck their feedback.

* * * *

Even as the government was on its last leg and Jayalalitha had withdrawn her ministers from the Cabinet, the Vajpayee government feigned as if there was no problem and went ahead with the business as usual. One of its decisions that went unnoticed in the media was about notifying the Rent Control Act. The only notice of this was taken by the trading community in Delhi which was up in arms against the government’s move. The BJP’s state unit was particularly in jitters since it always banked upon this community for support. And while the traders owing allegiance to the BJP were trying to salvage the situation by reasoning with their ministers, a senior leader of the party stunned all by telling another minister that crores of rupees had changed hands in influencing this decision. He was stupefied since this decision apparently seemed to favour the MNCs. and the minister under a cloud was known for his anti-MNC rhetoric.

The mystery further deepened when the minister concerned categorically told a senior leader of the BJP that the Cabinet had not taken any such decision. However, the government spokesman, Mr Pramod Mahajan, told the media that the cabinet had decided to notify the act in the same form in which it was passed by the erstwhile Gujral government. However, the mystery seems to have been buried with the demise of the government.

* * * *

While BJP’s war council was making tall claims about weaning away some MPs from the Opposition camp and were only working on the strategy of abstentions, they were caught unawares by veteran poachers on the other side. That they could not muster support beyond what they actually had is an old story. But they were on the verge of losing some of their allies if it were not for timely warnings by their friends on the other side. The government’s intelligence network had also failed the war council miserably. And while the war council was thinking that only Saifuddin Soz might ditch his party, even Farooq Abdullah’s son Omar Abdullah had made up his mind to switch sides. But for the last minute intervention by his father, he would have added to the Congress tally. The other fence sitters were disgruntled elements in the Lok Shakti. The war council was working in tandem with the Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel and thought that he would help them win over at least two MPs from the Janata Dal. But he could only help to the extent of telling the council that two of Lok Shakti MPs were returning from Bangalore having made up their mind to vote against the confidence motion. And getting a tip from him, the war council alerted the Lok Shakti leader, Mr R.K. Hegde, to do the operation salvage at the airport itself.

* * * *

While BJP’s war council had let down Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the confidence vote, it insisted that it could still work to reinstall him as the Prime Minister. A reluctant Vajpayee gave them a go ahead. But success was eluding the council this time also. Instead of weaning away MPs from the other camp, they seemed to lose many to them. Therefore, they changed their strategy to play spoilsport. Though it was dark at midnight on April 19, a realisation dawned upon Chandra Shekhar that Sonia was a foreigner. When George learnt of Chandra Shekhar attaining kewal gyan, he pounced upon the vulnerable Chandra Shekhar. George had a breakfast meeting with him for over two hours on April 20. And that meeting seemed to change the complexion of the entire coalition. Mulayam Singh Yadav was in Lucknow that day. And Chandra Shekhar would not let him rest even there. When Mulayam reached here on the night of 20th, he was even more stringent on his opposition to a minority government by the Congress. And since then, Chandra Shekhar has donned upon himself the role of self appointed Guru of Mulayam Singh.

* * * *

Mr Chandra Shekhar has always tried to don the mantle of an elderly statesman who thinks and works for the integrity of the nation and welfare of the down-trodden. His rhetoric notwithstanding, this time also to prove his secular credentials, he voted against the confidence vote of the Vajpayee government. But, behind the scene, he was working overtime to garner support for the saffron outfit. First he tried to wean away Mulayam Singh Yadav from the so-called secular forces. Then he told Saifuddin Soz that he would be doing disservice to the nation by voting against Vajpayee government. He was also instrumental to some extent in bringing Om Prakash Chautala to the negotiating table. And finally, when he learnt in the morning of the D-day that BSP had a change of heart during the preceding night, he was first to caution L.K. Advani. But, by that time it was too late.

75 YEARS AGO
Railway official’s transfer

THE Saharanpur public and particularly the friends of Mr A.C. Thornton, the late N.W.Ry. Head Train Examiner, are very sorry to part with him on account of his transfer. He discharged his duties very faithfully, honestly and to the satisfaction of the public; and did a lot of good work in connection with the catastrophe caused by the unfortunate accident at Pilakhni. He was very popular among his subordinates. His friends, who are many, pray that he may prosper and be happy wherever he goes.