Distanced by Delhi, Azad may lose sympathy in Valley

SRINAGAR: Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s request to the prime minister for intervention in getting presidential clemency for Afzal Guru, the prime accused in parliament attack case, is expected to cost him dearly.

The Congress high command has already distanced itself from his statement and indications suggest the party could suffer politically in Jammu, its main support base, where the mood is totally against Kashmir’s pro-Afzal stand.

In the wake of massive protests in Kashmir and parts of Jammu, Azad sought the PM’s intervention in the case. While party sources suggest he has sought postponement of the hanging date — fixed by the court for October 20 — in the wake of the day coinciding with Hindu and Muslim festivals, reports suggest he wanted him to seek presidential clemency. Since the decision goes against Congress’s national stand against terrorism and possibly would be flayed for being soft, the party has already termed it ‘Azad’s personal views’.

Azad, it is worth mentioning here, is not the only politician who is seeking pardon for Afzal. CPI (M) legislator Yusuf Tarigami organised a series of protests and then met the president in Delhi. NC president Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also sought presidential pardon for Afzal. In fact, BJP is the only party in the state that wants the judiciary to go ahead with the hanging.

Jammu actually witnessed a couple of symbolic protests where the people supported the move of sending Guru to the gallows. Prof Bhim Singh, Panthers Party leader, in fact warned people of Kashmir against protests saying it will cause more harm to Guru.

Irrespective of the factors motivating him to seek PM’s intervention, Azad continues to be at the receiving end of the high command. Sources within the party and the coalition suggest that only in rare cases has he been permitted to operate on his own.

Even recently, said an insider, the high command rejected his nominations for the ministerial berths and instead he was given a list from Delhi itself. “He even wanted to change his alliance partner but was not permitted”, he said.