Farooq Abdullah, often referred to as happy go-lucky, has proven that he is the politician’s politician. The writing had been on the wall ever since Doctor Sahab formed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) -- a masterstroke – with other political parties of Jammu and Kashmir in 2020 in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370. My friend Sajjad Lone, during a visit to Delhi soon afterwards, and while he was still a member of PAGD, told me Doctor Sahab in his new avatar was a man possessed, determined to restore not just Kashmir’s statehood but its dignity.
Off and on, when I asked him how he would manage “accommodation”, Doctor Sahab’s response was: “Togetherness, not accommodation, is the key”. Also: “we need to unite or perish”. In due course, the Kashmiri leadership, from Mehbooba Mufti to Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami to Muzaffar Shah and others, began to realise the heights to which Doctor Sahab has soared; even those who disliked him acknowledged he was the tallest leader in Kashmir.
I recall talking to young Iltija Mufti, one of the brightest stars on Kashmir’s political firmament, a couple of times before the Assembly elections, and she said Doctor Sahab was “nicest leader in Kashmir”. Her mother, Mehbooba, told me more than once that Doctor Sahab was their leader. When I met Dr Farooq Abdullah on his birthday on February 12, 2020, he was still under detention in Srinagar.
We avoided talking politics. Except that I suggested .