Omkar Dattatray
Not for nothing is Jammu and Kashmir infamous for dynastic democracies .Right from the day of transfer of power from Maharaja Hari Singh to Shiekh Abdullah ,the transition has not being democratic power transfer .But it meant transfer from the princely ruler to the so called democratic ruler whose was in fact an autocratic in the guise and garb of democracy .From 1948 to 9 August 1953,Sheikh Abdullah was the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and in fact, we had two prime ministers namely Nehru at central level and Shiekh Abdullah in erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir .Unfortunately the people of Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed only dynastic democracies for somewhat seven decades baring the presidents or governors rule .Jammu and Kashmir had been ruled by only two dynasties and to be specific by Abdullah’s and Mufti’s and somewhere by the Congress stalwarts who were handpicked by the Congress government of centre. For major part of the Jammu Kashmir’s political history this part of mother India has been ruled by the dynastic rulers camouflaged as democratic rule which in reality were dynastic rule by the three families of Nehru-Gandhi ,Shiekh Abdulla & Muftis .Thus the transfer of power from the autocratic ruler to the so called democratic rulers has no meaning because in effect it was no more than the autocratic and dynastic rule of the Raja’s of yore .It is every body’s knowledge that in Jammu and Kashmir there had been a hereditary rule in the guise of so called democracy because Shiekh Abdullah had handed over the reins of the then J&K government to his son Dr Farooq Abdullah without he being the elected representative of people in 1982 before his passing away .Sheikh Abdullah was arrested soon after in year 1953 for anti-national activities. Following the dismissal of Sheikh Abdullah ,his lieutenant Mirza Afzal Beg formed the Plebiscite front. Sheikh Abdullah was the first Prime minister of J &K after the accession of the state with India ,although he was so called elected PM ,but the elections of those days were farce and free from fair and free .He was the third chief minister of J&K from 25February 1975 to 26 March 1977 and thereafter again from 9 July 1977 to 8 September 1982.He was dismissed from the position of prime Ministership on 8th August 1953 and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed the new Prime Minister by the centre government of Nehru and he remained the prime minister of J &K from March 25 to February 18,1962 for 10 year’s 125 days .Khwaja Shamsuddin represented Ananrtnag constituency and served as the PM from 12 October 1963 to 29 February 1964.Thereafter Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq became the PM of the state from 29 February 1964 to March 30,1965,all handpicked by the Congress government of Nehru. .Sheikh Abdullah again became the CM of the state following the accord with Indira Gandhi in 1974 and remained in the top slot till his death on 8 september 1982..Thus during his life and when Abdullah was confined to bed ,he gave the stewardship that is the chief ministership to his son and it proved beyond doubt that there was dynastic rule in the garb of so called democracy .This dynastic and hereditary rule restricted the scope of any other leader of mettle ,capacity and merit outside the clan of Sheikhs to head the government. Farooq Abdullah became chief minister three times that is from September 1982 to 1984,1986 -90 and then from 1996 -2002.But as the chief minister he like his father gave plum and top posts in administration to his favorite ones and blue eyed people and his kith and kin and amassed wealth beyond his means .Meritocracy and efficiency became the casualties and inefficiency ruled the roost. The sum total of this adversely affected the economy of the state .The dynasty and hereditary rule thrived despite the elected governments .In a way we can say that rich became richer and poor became poorer and there was unequal distribution of wealth and all this negatively impacted the economy. People of J & K mostly depend for their sustenance on agriculture and there was no development of the farm sector and allied sectors, with the result the farmers who were the backbone of the economy also failed to prosper and the farm yield did not grow as needed. .Democracy seemed to be for names sake. The mantle of chief ministership was given by Farooq Abdullah to his Omer Abdullah as a hereditary and dynastic chief minister & he assumed office of NC-Congress coalition government on 5th January 2009.He also took the mantle of presidentship of National Conference from his father Farooq Abdullah in 2002 ,though he lost his own seat of Ganderbal during the 2002 state assembly elections but still remained the chief minister of the state and it clearly shows that there was dynastic and hereditary government in the state camouflaged as democracy .Since 1947,NationalConfrence was in power in Jammu and Kashmir in one form or other till 2002,and again between 2009 to 2015.To be specific ,Sheikh Abdullah was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir from February 1975 to March 26,1977,then again from 9 July 1977 to 8 September 1982.Then his son was the CM of Jammu and Kashmir and he was nominated for the top post by his father Sheikh Abdullah as given above. G.M.Sadiq from Congress party was made chief minister and he served as CM from 1965-Feb,1967 and then again from Feb 1967 to December 1971.After it ,Sayed Mir Qasim was made the chief minister by centre and he remained on the post from 1972 to Feb,1975.Therafter Sheikh Abdullah became the chief minister once more and served from 25Feb,1975 to 26March,1977 and then again from July 1977 to September 1982.Then his son Farooq Abdullah was nominated Chief minister by his father and he served from 1982 to 1983 and then again from November 1983 to 2 July ,1984.Then another politician and son -in -law of Sheikh Abdullah became chief minister from 2 July ,1984 to 6 March 1986,he was from little known Awami National Confrence .Then there was governors/presidential rule in the state in between .After the end of governors rule ,Farooq Abdullah again became the chief minister from 1987 to 19 January 1990 after rigged assembly elections of 1987by the NC government. People attribute the armed uprising in Jammu and Kashmir to rigging of the assembly poll of 1987.Then again there was governors rule from 1990 January to 18 July 1990 and then presidents rule from 19 July 1990 to 9 October 1996.After the end of the presidents rule there was assembly election and the vote percentage was very low .Farooq Abdullah again became the chief minister of J & K from 9 October 1996 to 18 October 2002.Then there remained governors rule in the state for 15 days and after it Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the chief minister for three years from November 2002 to November 2005.After it as per the agreement between the PDP and Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad became the chief minister from 2 November 2005 to 11 July 2008.Then governors rule was imposed and it remained in force from 11 July 2008 to 5 January 2009.The Omer Abdullah again became the chief minister and he remained on the post from January 5 2009 to 8 January 2015.After it Mufti Mohammad Syeed again assumed the office of the chief minister from 1March 2015 to 7 January 2016.Then again governors rule was imposed in the state from 7 January 2016 to 4 April 2016.After it the power passed to Mehbooba Mufti daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and she remained as the chief minister of PDP-BJP government from 4 April 2016 to 20 June 2018.All the above data clearly shows that Jammu and Kashmir continued to be ruled by the dynastic and hereditary rulers under the guise and garb of democracy and it can best be termed as the rule by dynastic democrats. So election or not the state of Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by the three dynasties of Nehru/Gandhi ,Abdullah’s and Mufties and these days NC,PDP and Congress are very active in politics as the ECI announced the assembly elections after the long gap of 10 years and there is cent percent possibility that same dynasties will again come to power in J&K and rule the roost and forget the interests and concerns of the people and only further their own interests and amass peoples wealth by foul means .
From 20 June 2018 to 19 December 2018 there was governors rule in the state and then presidents rule presidents rule up to 30 October 2019.The state was bifurcated into two union territories of Jammu& Kashmir and Ladakh on 5/6 August 2019 by the legislation of the parliament and it was headed by the Lt Governor and continues to be rule by LG .Now assembly elections have been announced and after the elections again the dynasts will rule again in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir albeit under the garb of so called democracy. All the above boils down to the fact that J & K was ruled in the past from 1965 to 2019 and even before it after the independence by the dynasts and in fact the democratic governance was for names sake.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
