"All parties should form a joint
front to seek a solution"

SLOGANS of Shah, Shah, Gul Shah, Padshah, Padshah rent the air in 1984. These died down when Farooq Abdullah, his estranged brother-in-law, recaptured power in 1986.

The son-in-law of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah, Gulam Mohammad Shah began his political career in 1931 when he was just an 11-year-old. He had joined Muslim Conference in 1933 as a volunteer. He accompanied his father-in-law to jail for over one year during the quit Kashmir movement. When Sheikh Abdullah was installed as the Chief Minister of J&K in 1975, G.M. Shah was given a ministerial berth in the cabinet. Later, when Farooq Abdullah joined politics actively, G.M. Shah was cut to size because of obvious reasons.

Subsequently, the political situation in Kashmir changed swiftly when Sheikh Abdullah died in 1982 and Farooq Abdullah took over the reigns of National Conference.

It was the turning point in Kashmir politics when undercurrents of bitterness between Farooq Abdullah and G.M. Shah started. This bitterness surfaced soon when Shah, with the support of the Congress, toppled Farooq Abdullah’s government in 1984.

Farooq paid his brother-in-law in the same coin when he came back to power with the blessings of Rajiv Gandhi and the active participation of the Congress. It is an open secret that G.M. Shah’s dismissal was politically motivated. By this time both had become sworn enemies.

G.M. Shah has not politically yielded yet. At 75, he is physically and mentally alert waiting for an opportunity to act. During his short visit to Delhi recently he spoke to R.C Ganjoo.

You had gone into a long political hibernation. What are the reasons for breaking your silence?

I was never in hibernation. My statements were not carried by media because the militant organisations had imposed a ban on the using of my statements in the Press. It did not bother me. I was always in touch with my workers wherever they were. I have not broken my silence, I was always talking. I feel the gun can’t solve the Kashmir problem, instead it has given a new lease of life to the problem. It has forced the world to think over why the gun cannot help to solve the problem.

While addressing a party workers meet in Srinagar, you had thanked militants for internationalising the Kashmir issue and appealed to them to follow the electoral process. What exactly did you want to convey to them?

I wanted to convey it to them that by taking a gun in their hands they did internationalise the issue. Now we need a solution. The solution will emerge only when all the three parties — India, Pakistan and the real representative of the J&K state will sit across the table and work out a solution. Fifty years have elapsed, but nothing has happened and the problem is still where it was in 1947.

We don’t know how much time it will take. What shall we do until then? Shall we suffer under corruption, nepotism and goondaism? Till such time, there should be free and fair elections in the Indian part of Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir so that both the governments could solve respective day to day problems accordingly and simultaneously vouch for a amicable solution to the basic problem.

What do you think, could be a viable solution to the Kashmir problem?

Unless a tripartite conference takes place no solution can be found. India and Pakistan may agree to something but if the people of Kashmir don’t agree, it won’t work. We have seen that India employed Sheikh Abdullah, Gulam Mohammad Bakshi, Mir Qasim, G.M. Sadiq, Farooq and me to solve the problem. But we couldn’t solve it. The same is the case with Pakistan . They employed so many people in POK but the problem is still there. Three wars were fought on Kashmir, followed by the Tashkent and Simla Agreements between the two countries. The agreements did not work. By the time a number of solutions were mooted, Shyama Prashad Mukherjee’s proposal said, give full autonomy to Kashmiri-speaking people. Pakistan’s solution is to have a plebiscite, while India’s is the Simla Agreement. Amman Ullah Khan is for making the state independent for 15 years, followed up a plebiscite. Farooq’s solution is converting of LoC to I.B.

I am for giving Ladakh totally to India and Gilgit to Pakistan. The three districts — Jammu, Udhampur and Kathua should be merged with Himachal Pradesh to make a big Dogra state. Kargil, POK, Kashmir valley, Poonch, Rajouri and Doda district should be made one state, with full autonomy. A mechanism should be evolved by which India and Pakistan will jointly look after foreign affairs, communication and defence. It was Sheikh Abdullah’s dream to make a confederation between India and Pakistan. This was discussed with Nehru. Later on neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Burma, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma and Sri Lanka would also join to convert it into a South Asia Confederation.

Farooq Abdullah has constantly been harping on converting of the LoC (Line of Control) to an I.B. (International Border)? Do you think that this is a viable proposal?

Who will accept this proposal? Pakistan will never accept it. India claims that Kashmir is an integral part of the country and POK is also a part. No government, either in Delhi or in Islamabad, will ever agree to this proposal.

How do you describe the Kashmir situation under the rule of Farooq Abdullah?

Don’t ask me. Ask the people who are suffering under corruption which is endemic. In last two years under Farooq’s rule, 7,000 people have been killed. On his part, Farooq is blaming the Centre for the financial crisis. He is accusing the Centre of not sending necessary financial aid. After all, the Centre has a budget which has to be distributed amongst the states according to the norms laid down by the Finance Commission. If any state spends its budgetary allocation non-productively, how can the Centre fill the gap which results from this attitude of the state government? Farooq is an awfully busy person. He has his breakfast in Srinagar, lunch in Jammu, evening tea in Delhi and dinner at London. He has no time to solve problems of the people. Is this not an extra burden on the exchequer?

Were you responsible for dividing the National Conference in 1984?

This is what is stinging me day and night. Not only did I divide the NC into two parts, but I also divided my family into two groups. Farooq is not from my family. Mohiudin Shah, my nephew, who left me at that time is not with me. Any way. I came under the spell of the Congress. They had committed that they should provide me all the input by which I could restore the confidence of the people in democracy within six years. That was short-lived. Indira Gandhi’s assassination was a great shock for me and for the people of Kashmir.

How you are planning to reorganise your party, the Awami National Conference?

The ANC is organised on democratic lines right from the grassroot level. We have mobilised our workers and started a membership drive to conduct elections down the line. My workers are intact since we formed the National Conference (Khalida) and then converted it to the ANC in 1984 against Dr Farooq Abdullah. All the sympathy of my party is with Kashmiri Pandits who have been dislodged. I appeal to the gun-wielding youth to get Kashmiri Pandits back to their home. No government or power on earth can guarantee their safety except gun-wielding youth. I request them to throw the gun and join the ANC.

I want my party to be a totally separate identity. No truck with NC or All Party Hurriyat Conference. I would rather welcome all parties, irrespective of their ideology, to come together to form a joint front to seek a solution.

Will this bitterness between you and Farooq Abdullah ever end?

I am not a soothsayer. I do not know what the Almighty has in store for both of us.