Worth a read
The latest book of Amarjit Singh Dulat - “The Chief Minister and The Spy” - was launched amid controversy on 18th April 2025 in New Delhi. Before its release there was a lot of buzz in the political and social circles about the claims that former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah had supported the abrogation of article 370, but such claims were outrightly dismissed by the author himself. He further clarified that ‘‘this book is not about article 370 rather, it is an appreciation of Farooq Abdullah, the great man’’. However, Dr. Farooq Abdullah skipped the book launch event. The sequence of these events, created a lot of curiosity among the book lovers to go through the actual contents of the book.
The author of this book, A.S.Dulat is a an IPS officer who served in Intelligence Bureau (IB) for long thirty years since 1969 and headed the R&AW. He also headed the Kashmir Group during turbulent years of 1990s until he relinquished his office in 2004. He is the author of four books and has co-authored two books with Gen. Assad Durani. The book is available in hard cover, has 289 pages with 10 chapters. Actually it is the political history of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, showing the highs and lows he has experienced during his political career. The author has discussed in detail that how he was inducted in Kashmir politics and trained in the art of governance by his Father SMA. The book is actually an account of memories of author that he has shared with Farooq Abdullah, during his posting in Kashmir in 1989 and afterwards as a part of Kashmir Group from Delhi. He has also discussed the dismissal and arrest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1953 by his friend Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and its fallout. He appreciates the characteristic of SMA that he lacked both bitterness and rancour towards Nehru, the quality Dr. Farooq has also inherited from his father. Here I disagree with the author, as the history reveals, SMA had taken the revenge of his political adversaries by sending them to other part of Kashmir. I also feel that it was because of his love for power and family he returned as Chief Minister of J&K in 1975 describing his 20 years of incarnation, as the period of wilderness. About the 1984 coup against Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the author writes “that the Congress led by Mrs Gandhi was unwilling to live with rival centres of power in Jammu and Kashmir. The small coterie of people surrounding the P.M, did not allow Farooq to build the bridges he wanted to. The principal actors within the Congress who wanted Farooq’s dismissal were Arun Nehru, M.N.Fotedar, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mufti Mohammad Syeed. The coup was engineered by his brother in law G.M.Shah with the support of 26 Congress (I) members led by Molvi Iftikhar Ansari”. The fact of the history is that the Congress party in J&K has always acted in the power plays and betrayals, whether it was dismissal of SMA in 1953 and withdrawal of support in 1977 or coup of 1984 against Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
The author writes about rigging of 1987 elections that “it was spring of 1987, the turn out in the Valley was massive. As the counting progressed, it became apparent that the Sayeed Salahuddin was way ahead of his opponent Mohiuddin Shah of N.C. With Salahuddin’s lead growing bigger by the hour Mohiuddin Shah left the counting centre thoroughly disappointed. However, he was soon summoned back as the winner of Amira Kadal assembly seat by 4,289 votes. The backlash was immediate and vicious. The supporters of the MUF and Salahuddin clashed with security personnel crying foul. Immediately parts of the valley were put under virtual curfew”. The author says that all of this is a matter that he has no definite answers to as it happened almost a year before he joined his posting in Kashmir in May 1988. However, he further says that when he met Francis T.R.Colaso, who was the then DGP (1986-87) to discuss the subject “he was clear that the issue of rigging was highly exaggerated.
If at all there had been rigging he said it had occurred only in few constituencies. For that he held Kashmiri bureaucrats, who were more loyal than the king wholly responsible.” But I feel that the N.C. government could not handle the situation efficiently after the elections of 1987. They should have rather accommodated the opposition tactfully instead of using coercive measures against the candidates and their election agents. In a democratic set up the ruling party needs to learn, to be patient and tolerant with opposition.
The author writes in his book at page 208, that Dr .Farooq Abdullah was terribly hurt by the abrogation of Article 370, when he met him in 2020. To quote the author; “just as the BJP had never hidden its intentions towards Kashmir as far as Article 370 was concerned, so too had Farooq been extremely open about his willingness to work with Delhi. May be he said, the N.C. could even have had the proposal passed in the legislative assembly in Jammu & Kashmir. ‘We would have helped, he told him when he met him in 2020.’ Why were we not taken into confidence’’
I think that the author has done nothing wrong in making this statement. This was just in the context of a passing reference made by DR. Farooq Abdullah. There was nothing left now in Article 370 as it had become an empty shell. It had already eroded during the regimes of G.M. Bakhshi and G.M.Sadiq when Congress was ruling the state. The erosion of Article 370 was finally endorsed by SMA in 1975 during Indra- Sheik accord, when he took over as C.M of J&K.
I also do not agree with the author in saying at page 216, that “The Sheikh had never been a religious man, finding his faith in politics.” During our life time, we have seen him as a very religious person. His public speech would never start without the recitation of Quran. I am a witness to the fact that In 1975, after Indra-Sheikh Accord, the public meeting, attended by a mammoth gathering was started with the recital of Quran by a businessman M. Abdullah Khan before Sheikh Abdullah made his historic speech. During G.M.Sadiq’s time when he was released, SMA went house to house in Srinagar to collect funds for reconstruction of Hazratbal mosque and the people contributed with their heart open, whatever they could afford.
Again I disagree with the author in saying “that in recent assembly elections 2024, both the son and father made all efforts not to fail. And amazingly, not only Shias and the Gujjars, but the Jamaat-e-Islami also appeared to have supported the N.C in its resounding victory” But the author has ignored to mention the election manifesto of N.C. which actually was responsible for their victory.
As per acknowledgement of the book, he has written with the permission of Dr. Farooq Abdullah. The author has proved to be a very sincere and loyal friend of Dr Sahib; making him the tallest of all Kashmiri leaders. And there is no doubt in admitting the fact that in the present scenario, Dr. Farooq Abdullah is the only leader, who being the senior most, experienced and matured politician of Jammu and Kashmir could guide the people of J&K well. It would have been in the interest of J&K had he taken the reigns himself, supported by his nephew Muzafar Shah a dynamic politician who is always guided by his mother, a lady with full of wisdom. This is an interesting book, worth to read.
Ab. Rashid Khan IPS, former IGP.
