FTN: Quitter yet winner: Omar J-K's best bet

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tendered his resignation on Tuesday after senior PDP leader Muzaffar Husein Beig accused him of being a suspect in the 2006 Srinagar sex scandal.

Omar Abdullah has now said he will return to his post only after his name has been cleared of all charges.

His resignation has been rejected by Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra. Both CBI and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram have also stated that Omar Abdullah's name is not on any list of accused.

The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN's Face The Nation was: Is Omar Abdullah still Kashmir's best bet?

To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were senior PDP leader and the man who's made the allegations against Omar Abdullah, Muzaffar Hussein Beig; Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah; Rajya Sabha MP and Jammu and Kashmir Congress Chief Saifuddin Soz; and political analyst Dr Amitabh Mattoo.

At the beginning of the show, 78 per cent of those who voted in said that Omar Abdullah was indeed Kashmir's best bet while a minority 22 per cent disagreed.

CM IN SEX SCANDAL?

Muzaffar Hussein Beig on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of being involved in the 2006 Srinagar sex scandal on the basis of some document, which was not a CBI document. This is some other document which the court has. The question that everyone wanted an answer to was whether he was sure of the veracity of the charges of had he made the accusations based on flimsy evidence.

To this Beig said, "I must clarify that I have not levelled any allegations on my own. The chargesheet filed by the CBI contains the name of only 17 accused persons and Omar Adbullah's name does not figure in that. However, the local police as well as the CBI had examined many witnesses who had named 190 other people in addition to those who were chargesheeted."

"When the matter was convened before the division judges of the High Court benches, both the judges concurred in their opinion that the investigation carried out by the CBI with respect to other persons was deficient. Justice Kirmani even noted that ministers and former ministers and high functionaries of the state were involved in the scandal and that unfortunately the investigation of the CBI left much to be desired. He directed that further investigation be carried out under the supervision of the High Court. The other judge, Justice Imtiaz directed that further investigation be carried out under the supervision of the criminal court of competive jurisdiction. In the judgement of both the judges - which is a confidential court document - there is a shame list in which the name of Omar Abdullah features on number 102, while Farooq Abdullah's name features on number 112," he added.

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He claimed that pressure had been applied from higher quarters on the CBI so that the people on the 'shame list' would be exempt from investigations.

Farooq Abdullah shot back saying that the allegations were totally baseless.

"Mr Beig was law minister at the time the scandal broke out. Why did he not follow it up? Who stopped him? Did I stop him or did Omar Abdullah stop him? They were in power but what did they do? Is it not true that one of their secretaries who was on that list and charged was greeted by them back into a government job and given a top post? This same secretary's daughter fought elections on the PDP's behalf. Has Mr Beig forgotten all this? On Monday you saw their leader's behaviour with the Speaker and on Tuesday they have raked up an issue because they have no concrete issues," Abdullah retorted.

He said this was not the way a responsible Opposition behaved.

To this Beig said that he had written a letter to the then chief minister saying that since the allegations were centered around high functionaries and ministers, the local police should not be involved in the investigations but instead a CBI enquiry should be carried out.

"The CBI is under the Home Ministry not me and it took them about a year to come up with results. And I am not saying the CBI was under pressure. This is what the High Court says. We have reason to believe that there was political influence in the case," he stated.

Farooq Abdullah said that Beig did not have any evidence and that he was ready to resign from Parliament even if any charges proved true.

"Don't levy charges which are baseless. You are a senior lawyer and a man with intelligence. When I asked Omar not to resign he said, 'dad it if I don't resign, I will die. It is my honour which is at stake here and I don't think I can live with that charge'. I know how Omar felt and I know how I feel," he stated.

DOES OMAR HAVE THE STOMACH TO BE IN POLITICS?

The Home Minister and the CBI are both denying the charges which have been put forward by Beig. The allegations against an extremely senior leader are serious and the question that observers of this drama are now asking is: If the charges proved false, was Beig ready to tender a public apology to Omar Abdullah?

Beig tried to make his stand clear - but ended up changing his stand - saying, "I am not saying anything that anyone else is not saying. I am not saying Omar Abdullah was involved in the scandal. I am saying that his name appears on the 'shame list'. Further investigations are needed. I hope and pray that Omar is proved to be innocent. I wish him all the best."

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This statement was in complete contrast to what Beig had said in the Assembly on Tuesday. He had said, "Omar Abdullah has lost the moral right to rule and should resign from the Chief Ministership of the state."

Saifuddin Soz interrupted at this point saying Beig had said in the Assembly that Omar Abdullah stands accused in the 2006 Srinagar sex scandal. However, before Soz could continue with his statement, Beig cut him short saying that Soz was misquoting him.

Soz went on as if there was no interruption saying, "In my opinion Omar Abdullah had no compulsion to resign because it was a mere accusation. But he stood on high moral ground and submitted his resignation to the Governor. Also, the document which Beig presented in the Assembly shall have to be authenticated by some institution. The CBI cannot accept that document unless authenticated as pointed out by the Home Minister. The CBI has so far been saying that the allegations made by Beig are false."

Farooq Abdullah defended his son saying that he had an honour which was above politics. "If we politicians don't have honour, we have no right to be leaders. Honour matters and if we don't have it, we have no right to stand before people and lead them. The chair comes and goes but if honour goes once, it never comes back," he stated.

He said that he didn't know what he would have done had he been in that situation but stated that he was proud of his son. "I lost my temper with him but he told me that it was a question of his life and that he would not be able to live with an accusation like this. I told him to do what he thought was right and I am glad and proud of him that he stood for his honour."

DRAMA IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Amitabh Mattoo joined the debate at this point in time saying, "In Jammu and Kashmir, there is an incentive for confrontation, an incentive for levelling the most hideous allegations, an incentive for corruption, an incentive for perversion. And you are spending hours on prime time television discussing a sex scandal when we should be discussing issues of governance, human rights, Centre-state relations, India Pakistan relations."

He said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were voting in a certain way and why not respect that mandate and give them a functioning democracy? This fragile democracy of Jammu and Kashmir did not need destabilising.

Beig responded to this in typical politician style saying that the PDP got more popular seats than the National Conference, which was a working coalition. "We are not here to destabilise them. We are realists, but this is a public issue. The government is not responding to the High Court's order and carrying out an investigation. We have waited for a year. As Farooq Abdullah said governments come and go and what is important is honesty and probity in public life. We cannot say that government will get destabilised and keep things under wraps."

Farooq Abdullah said that Beig should have followed it up if he was so concerned about honesty. Beig retorted back saying that he was not in charge of the CBI and he asked whether Farooq Abdullah was scared of this coming out in the open to which Farooq Abdullah replied saying, "I am not afraid of you Mr Beig. We will face you in the Assembly."

Beig shot back saying, "You influenced the CBI." To this Farooq Abdullah said, "You prove that I influenced the CBI and I will resign."

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When the crossfire died down, the debate edged back to what Amitabh Mattoo had said earlier - about charges and counter-charges being exchanged by the ruling National Conference and the PDP. He had asked whether it was not the responsibility of the government and the Opposition to offer olive branches to each other to try and govern the state better.

Farooq Abdullah said that they had the responsibility, but this did not mean that the Opposition could levy any charges and they would remain slient.

"The people are our masters and we have to go back to them in five-and-a-half years and we are answerable to them. We have to respond to such grave charges," Farooq Abdullah said.

Mattoo broke in here saying that the mandate of the people of Kashmir in this election would be frittered away in all the charges and counter charges, unless there was an actual mindset change.

"I plead to all the three big leaders taking part in this debate to forget their differences and think of the future of Jammu and Kashmir. The future of Kashmir lies in reconciliation, not in destroying each other. Let us try and create a new Kashmir in which everyone will have space. It's possible. The mandate of the 2008 elections demonstrated that all Kashmiris want peace with dignity and if we work together, we can create that space and that new Kashmir. Scoring tactical points will not help. Marginalising someone's reputation will not help. Can we act together? That's the question," he said.

Muzaffar Beig made a complete U-turn at this point saying that he had a soft corner for Farooq Abdullah as a person which had a reflection in what he felt for Omar Abdullah - another soft corner. " We should leave this behind us for peace and prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir. As Opposition we will support the government on all issues," he said.

Beig then blamed everything on the "honourable" Speaker in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, saying his behaviour left something to be desired.

Farooq Abdullah concluded the debate saying, "We want development of the state, to give honourable and dignified lives to those who have suffered. The Centre is being a great help to us at this point in time and are giving us ample resources. I hope what Muzaffar Beig has said will be followed in letter and spirit."

FINAL SMS/ WEB POLL: Is Omar Abdullah still Kashmir's best bet?

Yes: 80 per cent

No: 20 per cent