ANALYSIS
Unabated 'friendly fire' in
coalition but no casualty-yet
Mohammad Sayeed Malik
SRINAGAR; Mar 16: There are many reasons for hating Americans but they also have an unrivalled endearing quality. That is their knack of coining beautiful terms to describe their own ugly acts. 'Friendly fire' is one such term. This expression is freely used to cover up casualties inflicted by clumsy American soldiers and fighter pilots upon their own allies in war. From Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, loss of hundreds of non-American lives due to 'friendly fire' by Americans is explained away without batting an eyelid.
I find a tempting parallel in this term-'friendly fire'-to a couple of recent unusual happenings relating to National Conference-Congress coalition even as it continues to cruise along without any challenge. Two recent major incidents seem to have passed off almost unnoticed, except their routine coverage in a section of print media. In the first case, finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather came under 'friendly fire' for the second time within a few months. Like in the previous case, it looked to be an insider's job. Rather was targeted for his alleged bid to bestow undue favour upon a well known local business family with 'inimical' political linkage. The news alleged that Rather's tax proposal regarding insecticides was meant to benefit Altaf Bukhari, PDP general secretary.
The second burst of 'friendly fire' came all the way from Delhi and it was aimed directly at the top. According to a published news report Ghulam Nabi Azad identified himself with the agitating state employees and castigated the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government for dragging its feet and wrongly blaming the central government to cover up its own ineptitude.
Rather was first targeted by insiders last year soon after he held a wedding reception in Jammu. The technique, means and channel used for 'exposing' the finance minister's alleged ostentatious life style bear a close resemblance to the methodology employed in the recent case in which he is alleged to be in cahoots with local big-business. Read together, the two incidents of 'friendly fire' create a serious doubt about the finance minister's longevity in office. What lends credence to this impression is the fact that there was no effort from the usually hyper sensitive 'official sources' to refute such serious allegations against a senior minister. Interestingly, on both occasions the medium used to target the finance minister was selectively chosen to convey the authenticity of the 'message'. This barrage looks to be a politically loaded development. Two back to back instances are anything but a coincidence. Indications are that there is more to follow.
While this development marks the silence of the lamb within the National Conference the other one exposes vital chinks in the NC-Congress coalition. Union health minister has never concealed his sense of deprivation after his government in the state was overthrown by its 5-year ally the PDP in 2008. That there is no love lost between Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar Abdullah is an old story by now. The public spat between them over the issue of return of Kashmiri youth stranded across the Line of Control is too recent to be forgotten. Now comes Azad's salvo over Omar's (mis)handling of the state employees' agitation. It is double whammy for Omar. At the personal level he finds Azad at odds over issues and at the party level the Azad faction of the PCC has been anything but friendly. Azad's fresh attack shows that he is not going to relent and that Omar has reasons to fortify his defences there in Delhi to avoid getting hit in the increasing 'friendly fire'. Azad has accused the state government of misleading its employees about the role of the central government in providing funds. 'If I had remained in power I would have solved employees' problems long ago as we were very near its solution,' former chief minister claimed. The inference is that Omar lacks ability or competence to complete Azad's 'unfinished' agenda.
Caught in this 'friendly fire' is Muzaffar Hussain Baig of the PDP, directly or indirectly. Although the former deputy chief minister has nothing to do in this exchange yet his name keeps cropping up. Earlier it was when Abdul Rahim Rather's 'insider-rivals' sought to target his reputation by reviving Baig's old accusations alleging misuse of authority. Nobody seemed to be remebering that Baig had since tendered apology to Rather over this issue.
Now Azad has also cited Baig as prosecution witness, claiming that the former deputy chief minister could testify to Azad's version that their government had all but resolved the employees' issue. Azad's ammunition for 'friendly fire' seems to be coming from his firm belief that he himself had done nothing wrong and Omar can do nothing right.