After Omar, free Mufti swiftly

The release earlier this week of former J&K chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah from nearly eight months in detention, just 10 days after his father Farooq Abdullah, also a former CM and NC chief, was set free on March 13, is likely to release some international pressure on the Narendra Modi government on the Kashmir issue. This should help India free its arm somewhat in tackling Pakistan.

Regardless of that, the release of key Kashmiri political figures from imprisonment on trumped-up charges is a public good in its own right. It is noteworthy that upon their release, the Abdullahs have sought to press the Centre to immediately set free Mehbooba Mufti, the PDP leader who too is a former CM, besides all political prisoners.

The NC and PDP have been bitter regional rivals and yet NC leaders have said they will address political matters only after they have had a chance to confer with Ms Mufti. This is a new kind of development for Kashmir.

If some accommodation is reached between NC and PDP, the quisling Apni Party of tier-two defectors — got together by the government recently with the avowed aim of inaugurating a new era of politics in J&K — could turn out a stymied enterprise. In such a scenario, the message whispered around that the NC has done a “deal” with the Centre is likely to get scotched.

Just a day before their arrest in August 2019, the leaders of Kashmir’s mainstream parties, including Ms Mufti, had met at Dr Abdullah’s house to pass the so-called “Gupkar Declaration”, that aimed to uphold Kashmir’s “identity” and “autonomy”. How feasible that goal is will become clear when the politicians get into their stride. In his long public life, Dr Abdullah has never refused conversation with the Centre. It is the terms of engagement that will be watched.