Politics

Omar Abdullah caught in the crossfire by posting a link to an article

Omar Abdullah's X post linking Er Rashid's victory with 'revival of secessionism' draws flak

June 6, 2024

Omar Abdullah invites more trouble for himself

After facing a crushing defeat at the hands of a jailed Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has now invited more trouble for himself.

On Thursday morning, Omar Abdullah shared a link to an article that discussed the reasons behind the huge victory of a former MLA from Langate and its impact on the political landscape of Kashmir Valley.

Sharing a link to an article titled Engineer Rashid’s election victory shows Kashmiri secessionism is far from spent Omar posted on X (earlier Twitter), “Rashid’s victory, without doubt, will empower secessionists, and give Kashmir’s defeated Islamist movement a renewed sense of hope. Efforts to draw secessionism back into electoral politics led New Delhi to support the rise of the People’s Democratic Party, and its alliance with the BJP. That, however, ended up empowering violent secessionists, not mainstreaming them—a warning of the unpredictable outcomes of trying to manipulate politics.”

Soon after the backlash started. First of all Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed Ur Rehman Para, who recently contested from the Srinagar Parliamentary seat posted a comment on his timeline on X claiming Omar has dubbed a democratic expression as an ‘Islamist wave‘.

“Extremely disappointed with Omar Abdullah’s regressive stance, echoing the divisive politics of 1987, and dubbing a democratic expression as an ‘Islamist wave’. His family’s history with the Muslim Conference clashes with calls for the exclusion of PDP, Er Rashid, and JEI, and will put Kashmir into perpetual conflict with the state. A more prudent approach, akin to Mehbooba Mufti’s plea for Er Rashid’s release, would have been an acknowledgment of mandate” wrote PDP leader Para.

Extremely disappointed with @OmarAbdullah‘s regressive stance, echoing the divisive politics of 1987, and dubbing a democratic expression as an ‘Islamist wave’. His family’s history with the Muslim Conference clashes with calls for the exclusion of PDP, Er Rashid, and JEI, and… https://t.co/Z9j9u2vIKJ
— Waheed Para (@parawahid) June 6, 2024

Without wasting much time Omar swiftly wrote back, “Waheed I don’t normally get into any back & forth conversations here but this time I’ll make an exception. I spent my entire campaign talking about Engineer’s release & unlike his campaign, I talked about the release of the 1000s detained since 2019. The articles I’ve put here are not my views but they are a point of view. I may agree with parts, disagree with parts but they are an opinion. As for Rashid’s release, it’s a matter for the courts as it is in all such cases. I didn’t agree with Rashid’s detention in the first place & I don’t agree with it now but that’s neither here nor there because it shouldn’t be just about one man but about the 1000s in jail, including the anonymous ones outside J&K”.

A social activist Tahir Peerzada joined the debate saying Never expected you to tweet this despite accepting defeat gracefully! Er. Rashid won due to a strong sentimental vote! Let’s acknowledge that and stop making excuses for the loss! Time to reflect and move forward!

Another Columnist Mir Mujeeb said, “Make no mistake, Mr Omar Abdullah is in other words advocating crackdown from Delhi on those who didn’t vote for him vilifying them as ‘Islamists’-a slur. Also exposes why Abdullahs purposefully choose to keep draconian laws like PSA & AFSPA to induce boycotts over the past 7 decades”.

Some of the anger was also directed at the author who penned the article.

PDP leader Para in his post wrote, “By tossing labels, Praveen Swami belittles the mandate of countless Kashmiri voters, disrespecting their democratic voice. Spare us the biased ‘analysis,’ Praveen Swami ji. Let people choose their reps. Penning detached pieces to pose as a ‘Kashmir expert’ backfires, as it will again. Lives, families, and real pain are at stake. Armchair analysis shouldn’t misguide government approaches and harden them against Kashmir. Those advocating violence as a solution post massive turnouts aren’t serving India or Kashmir”

By tossing labels, @praveenswami belittles the mandate of countless Kashmiri voters, disrespecting their democratic voice. Spare us the biased ‘analysis,’ @praveenswami ji. Let people choose their reps. Penning detached pieces to pose as a ‘Kashmir expert’ backfires, as it will… https://t.co/FVeKm6ZoaC
— Waheed Para (@parawahid) June 6, 2024

A Jammu-based Journalist Zafar Choudhary also commented, “The result in the Baramulla constituency has left everyone so baffled that no side of the argument is holding good”.

What does the Engineer Rashid phenomenon in Kashmir election mean?
The result in Baramulla constituency has left everyone so baffled that no side of argument is holding good.
Engineer’s surprise entry -an unforeseen circumstance for voters who had to pick between Omar…
— Zafar Choudhary (@ZafarChoudhary_) June 6, 2024

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2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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