Rahul Gandhi should be thanking his stars for not being a Congress president when Narendra Modi government took monumental decisions on Kashmir. As a principal opposition party, the Congress would be better off convening a meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) before taking a stringent, anti-Modi government stance on scrapping of article 370, 35A and changes in the Jammu and Kashmir state.

The AICC session will provide some ground level voices. The Congress leadership needs to understand that May 2014 and May 2009, a lot has changed. It is therefore, not a bad idea to keep listening before taking any firm stand on emotive issues like scrapping of 370.  If those manning 24, Akbar Road bother to hear stray voices, they would realize that not everyone in the grand old party is toeing Ghulam Nabi Azad’s line on Kashmir. There are assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand round the corner. Moreover, given Pakistan’s tendency to poke its nose in matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress faces a potential of being clubbed with anti-national elements.

While AICC may not be an ideal form, the representative character of having 1500 –odd members from across the country, would provide Congress some breathing space. It is easy to term all those making exit from the party as a sign of ‘allurement’ and ‘rank opportunism’,  the party needs to reflect upon why so many are leaving the Congress.    The Congress party’s Chief Whip Bhubaneshwar Kalita in the Rajya Sabha today tendered his resignation as a mark of protest against the party’s stand to oppose Modi government’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir. Kalita said to have stated that the Congress’ stand on this issue was “against the people’s feelings” and that the party seemed “hell-bent on political suicide."   Kalita was considered close to 10, Janpath. Last year, he was elevated as vice chairman of AICC department on foreign affairs. He was head of the screen committee for Chhattisgarh and a member of Congress central election authority.

 (Sonia Gandhi waves to the crowd during an election rally at Shangus in the Anantnag district, about 74 kms south of Srinagar on December 10, 2014. FILE PIC/AFP.)

The Congress has a rich history of dissent. Unlike the left’s concept of “democratic centralization” where even a decision arrived by 51 for and 49 against is dubbed as ‘unanimous’ the Congress legacy has been different. Indira Gandhi herself encouraged formation of various ginger groups like the Congress Socialistic Forum, Nehru Forum and other groups. Often, she promoted one and mid-way encouraged the other. Dissent in the Congress has traditionally been viewed as a right to live and learn.

Congress leaders and younger generation should understand that it took India 15 long years to take a firm position on Kashmir. There was lot of sophistication in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru government’s handling of Kashmir and reliance on Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. In the period between August –October 1947,  when first war broke out between India and Pakistan, Nehru and country’s home minister  Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel seemed dithering, whether to hold on to Kashmir or not.

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In his book, “Pakistan –The India Factor” [page 218, Allied Publishers] Rajendra Sareen has documented a conversation between Sardar Patel and Sardar Abdul Rab Nishtar, minister in Pakistan cabinet in which Patel has been quoted as saying, ‘Bhai, give up this talk of Hyderabad and Junagarh, and talk of Kashmir: Take Kashmir and settle the issue.” Sareen offers another gem on page 432 of his book when he quotes Sirdar Shaukat Hayat, a member of Pakistan constituent assembly who was present in a meeting between Lord Louis Mountbatten and Pakistan prime minister Liyaqat Ali. Mountbatten conveyed Patel’s message to Liyaqat Ali that if Pakistan keeps out of Hyderabad, India would leave Kashmir. Liyaqat Ali reacted Sharply to Hayat commending the proposed and retorted, “Sirdar Saheb, have you gone out of your mind? Why should we leave a province [Hyderabad] larger than Punjab and settle for some mountain rocks?” 72 years later, hawks on both sides of the border would not like to even acknowledge that Patel once offered to barter Kashmir for Hyderabad and that Liyaqat Ali made choice of words for Kashmir as “mountain rocks.

(Author-Journalist Rasheed Kidwai is a visiting Fellow of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). He tracks government and politics and considered a specialist on Congress party affairs.)

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