It was a cold December
morning in 1975. It had been in many ways a monumental year for both Kashmir
and India. And that morning despite being cold and cloudy had an idyllic aura
and promise for future. If there was a foreboding of future upheavals, that was
not something that many at that time had on their minds. Two major events of
the year, which was almost coming to an end, were an accord between Sheikh
Abdullah and Indira Gandhi following the culmination of torturous
Beg-Parthasarthy talks. The accord paved way for Sheikh Abdullah to become
chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir almost twenty-two years after his illegal
and most ill conceived dismissal as the Prime Minister of the state by the
Indian administration. In the interim, governance in the state had a feeling of
being unreal with hand picked chief ministers lacking democratic legitimacy and
who were at all times at the mercy of their masters in Delhi. The assumption of
power of power in the state by Sheikh Abdullah suddenly brought gravitas and a
sense to the administration that until then had tethered on sleaziness and
illegitimacy. The effect was real, eclectic and perceptible. If there was a
single department, which stood out, it was education that until then had
suffered from scourge of patronage and mass copying. There is another but
completely pertinent matter that in a few years the mechanics of Indian
machinery and unscrupulous local politicians who had lost crumbs of power would
turn that accord into a ploy to strengthen the occupation rather than
guaranteeing the agreed maximum autonomy to the state. As per the accord
itself, it is always convenient to pass a judgment with the benefit of
hindsight but to be present in that era is an altogether different matter.
Another consequential
chapter of that momentous year, which shook the very foundations of the
democratic structures of the Indian state, was promulgation of the internal
emergency by Indira Gandhi following the verdict of Allahabad high court that
disqualified her from holding any elected office. That declaration itself,
incarceration of many opposition leaders, complete censorship of news media and
spates of constitutional amendments bulldozed through the truncated parliament
virtually paralyzed the Indian democracy. India was enveloped in a pal of gloom
that due to the very presence of Sheikh Abdullah in power did not affect
Kashmir. The two events would eventually coalesce as Indira Gandhi for some
reasons realized the wisdom of democracy and declared elections in the country
in spring of 1977, despite the vehement opposition from her coterie that
included notorious Sanjay Gandhi. Those elections resulted in a complete loss
for Indira Gandhi and her party at all over India. The local congress party
incidentally under none other than Mufti Saeed tried to engineer a coup of sort
by withdrawing support to Sheikh Abdullah, which virtually amounted to reneging
on their promises made in the accord. But for the then governor of the state L.
K. Jha, wily Mufti Sayeed might have succeeded back then in attaining power. L.
K. Jha instead on the advice of the Chief Minister called for fresh elections
that gave a huge mandate to National Conference and resulted in decimation of
Congress and other disparate groups that had opportunistically joined hands.
Mufti Sayeed did get his chance to play a spoilsport not once but many times
after the death of Sheikh Abdullah. But that would be for some other
time.
It was on that December
morning of 1975, I went to meet Sheikh Nazir at his office-residence at Nedous.
Sheikh Nazir besides being a close confidante of Sheikh Abdullah was an eminent
practicing lawyer. I was in my teens but that never prevented Sheikh Nazir from
greeting me with dignified courteous civility. He would always get up from his
chair and extend his hand. On that particular day, when I entered his office he
as usual got up from his chair with an extended handed, despite there being a
number of people from National Conference sitting in his office. Once he
finished dealing with other visitors, he asked me that I should accompany him
to his office on the Court Road so that he could talk me on the way. I went out
with him expecting an awaiting vehicle along with an entourage. There was no
vehicle and there was no entourage and we started to walk towards the Court
Road and for me that was an exalted lesson in humility. That was besides, the
other things I learnt from Sheikh Nazir during that walk that lasted close to
forty minutes. I had privilege to visit Sheikh Nazir occasionally following
years until my research work completely consumed me. There was always that
uprightness and dignity without a trace of arrogance. He was always courteous.
I was filled with a tinge of sadness on reading the news about his death on
February 24, 2015. I recalled with a pride for having known such a dignified
human being who could have attained any position in the government but chose
not to.
-Rajiv Kumar
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