Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah spoke out against the arbitrary arrests made in India due to dissent, stating that it is not healthy for the country and goes against the principles of democracy.
During the 11th edition of The New Indian Express' ThinkEdu Conclave 2023 in Chennai on Thursday, February 9, Abdullah shared his experience of spending eight months in detention for speaking out against the government, highlighting the importance of dissent in a democratic society. He also touched upon the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including the recent blast in Jammu city and the targeting of minorities, and expressed hope for a positive outcome from the pending Supreme Court ruling on Article 370.
"Small things like Facebook posts can result in arbitrary arrests; cartoons and comedy sketches have seen people being arrested. None of this is healthy for this country. The Prime Minister recently said that he considers India to be the mother of democracy. So if India is the mother of democracy, then I believe dissent is democracy's firstborn child," said Abdullah.
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The former chief minister highlighted the injustice of his eight-month detention for no reason other than his disagreement with the government of the day on August 5, 2019. Despite having the law on their side, he was still detained for those months, he stated.
He went on to explain that those in positions of power should realise that nobody is in office forever. Every ruling government eventually becomes the opposition, and should learn from the successes and failures of past regimes, he said. "We are sitting in a state where dissent was born along with independence. Others believe that dissent is a conspiracy theory. Dissent has become fashionable," he added.
He stated that dissent is not simply about one's own political ideology, but is instead about the overall framework. He pointed to the example of Ladakh in 1990, when the people there declared that they did not want to be associated with Kashmir, as an example of dissent and the freedom to express one's point of view freely. However, he noted that some people have recently been detained, surrounded by police, and asked to sign bonds in order to be released. This is not an appropriate place for dissent, according to him.
Speaking about Article 370, he says the matter is still before the Supreme Court. "Why should we prejudge what the Supreme Court is going to do? With every passing day, I am more hopeful. Because if the government had a strong case to make in the apex court, they would have done everything possible to ensure hearings started by now," he added
"On the government’s part, the security situation has improved; their promised investments should happen so that people are able to move freely. We see some of that in the tourism aspect. At the same time, there are no new factories, universities, colleges, hospitals, or infrastructure for tourism. I don't expect much to have changed on the ground, except for some stone pelting," he explained.
Abdullah went on to comment on the visible protests on the streets in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the targeting of minorities in the region. He also questioned the lack of an election in a region that has seen a supposedly improved security situation. When asked why are elections not being held, and what he expects from the elections, Abdullah questioned the central government's intention to conduct the elections. "You promised the country that (Article) 370 is the biggest stumbling block for peace in Jammu and Kashmir. All previous elections were with 370 and the existing security environment. If you are not conducting it right now cause of security then I want to hear from the Prime Minister or the Home Minister in Parliament that it cannot be held due to security. Otherwise, it just means the BJP is scared." The delimitation has been completed, voter lists are ready, polling booths have been identified, and all returning officers have completed their duties, he said. Only two things left to be seen: the weather and the security situation. As much as the BJP may want it, it is not going to snow in Kashmir in April, he quipped.
Responding to a question from the audience on the resettlement of Kashmiri Hindus, the former CM said, "I fully support it but the environment for them to come back is worse now than it was four years ago and targetted attacks against minorities is an example of that. We had an opportunity under the Manmohan Singh government to resettle them, but that has now been lost. In fact, people who were resettled at that time are now protesting in Srinagar to be resettled back out of the valley."
