New Delhi: Removed from the post of finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir for stating that he did not see his state as one having a “political issue” but rather as a “society which has social issues right now”, Haseeb Drabu – who is seen by many as a crucial link in the alliance between the ruling People’s Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – has in a statement defended his remarks stating that he was trying to a make a point “in the larger context of how our society has been ravaged and has impaired real-life situations and sensibilities especially of the youth”.
Seeking to “set the record straight” on the controversy surrounding his unceremonious exit, Drabu said it was while speaking his mind at a meet on “Kashmir: The Way Forward” organised by the PHDCCI on March 9 that he had “tried to make the point that Kashmir was not only a political issue to be resolved by the nation state of India and the successive governments at the centre and the state, but that there is a social issue that needs to be resolved at the level of the civil society”.
‘Need of hour is to involve civil society in resolution of social issues’
Drabu, who had played a crucial role in stitching the PDP-BJP alliance following the split results in the 2015 assembly elections, said since a number of “ambassadors and industrialists who could be possible investors in peace in Kashmir” were in the gathering, he had also “quoted the case of the travel advisories of various countries, in this context, which may be politically induced but on ground are effectively acting as a social boycott of Kashmiris”.
The senior leader said he had also emphasised that “the need as such is for civil society institutions to get involved and make interventions in their areas of influence to resolve the social issues pervading our society”.
However, the PDP had not taken his views in the manner he would have desired. What appears to have riled the party are his comments that “it (J&K) is not a political issue as far as I can see. They have been barking up the wrong tree for the last 50 or 70 years by talking about the politics of it, that the political situation has never improved. We seriously need to look at in terms of how it is a society that is in search of itself.”
PDP felt Drabu’s comment undermined its reconciliation and dialogue attempts
Drabu was reportedly asked to retract his statement and give and explanation. The PDP vice-president Sartaj Madani went on record to state that “the party (PDP) recognises Jammu and Kashmir as a political issue and ever since its emergence, the party has relentlessly been pursuing its resolution through reconciliation and dialogue, both at internal and external levels”.
Responding to Drabu’s comments, he had said: “It is unfortunate that the problem is seen, by some forces in the sub-continent, as a mere management assignment to contain peoples’ aspirations… the resolution commitment is being aimlessly undermined.”
The party spokesperson Rafi Ahmad had reasoned that Drabu was sacked because he could not provide a proper explanation. “He (Drabu) failed to satisfy the party leadership on his statement. In the morning, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti wrote a letter to the Governor, requesting him to sack the minister,’’ Mir told the Indian Express.
‘Not accorded opportunity to explain, ouster painful’
Drabu for his part blamed the action on “innuendoes” that he “said this or was made to say this with an ulterior motive”.
He argued that the fact remained that what he had said was a “long-held belief” and that he had repeatedly said that the engagement with Kashmir should be at various levels. Insisting that he found the decision of the party to sack him “painful”, Drabu insisted that he was “not accorded the opportunity to explain the context and the content of my speech.”
‘I had nuanced only the stand of the PDP’
Recalling his earlier speeches as well, Drabu said: “Those who heard my speech or care to read it dispassionately will know that when I was talking about our aspirations and the efforts at self-discovery, I was in fact nuancing the very stand of the PDP before a very select audience.”
He reasoned that to the best of his understanding and knowledge, “this in no way goes against the articulated and stated political position of PDP. Nor does it dent its image. It is, in fact, very much a part of the PDP’s political philosophy and agenda of reconciliation.”
As for his understanding of the political ideology of PDP, Drabu said “it is based on my drafting of various election manifestoes, the aspirational agenda, and the all-important self rule document, which Mufti sahib involved me in.”
Recalling how his association with PDP dated back to those years when he was not into politics formally, the ousted minister said, “The rapport I enjoyed with its late founder and patron (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) is something that I would cherish all my life.”
‘Not for nothing was I tasked to negotiate with BJP’
“Not for nothing did he entrust me with the task of negotiating with the BJP and make me the pointsman for the alliance which was later continued by Mehbooba ji. Every single meeting, discussion and negotiations were done with the knowledge and consent of the patron and the president,’’ he said, signifying his importance in the alliance.
Drabu also reminded that the terms and conditions based on which the current PDP-BJP alliance was formed – referred to as the ‘Agenda of alliance’ – was drafted under his guidance.
Little wonder, with Drabu’s departure, many believe that a key communication channel between the Mufti government in the state and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has been taken away, in particular because of the access he enjoyed to the the bigwigs in the present dispensation in New Delhi.