Omar Abdullah has finally found something he can do without sweating – collecting signatures. The former Chief Minister, once in command of the state’s fate, is now reduced to the role of a street-corner petition clerk. A man who once ruled with the stroke of a pen now seeks the mercy of strangers’ pens.
We are told it’s a “people’s campaign” for the restoration of statehood. A noble cause, no doubt. But the irony is as thick as Dal Lake’s weed cover. The same party that once signed away Kashmir’s dignity under its watch now asks us to believe that a few thousand scribbles on loose sheets will make Delhi quake in its boots. Some people in the corridors of power in Delhi may even pee in their pants!
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Petition politics is the easiest form of political theatre. It requires no policy. No governance. No concrete plan. It doesn’t even need running at Sabarmati riverfront and selling Kashmir tourism that no more exists. Just a bunch of clipboards, a few volunteers, and a camera crew. The Abdullahs have mastered this art – manufacturing optics while the real battle is fought elsewhere. Or not fought at all!
Statehood, let’s not forget, was not snatched overnight. It was the slow rot of decades of self-serving politics, of parties cutting deals in Delhi’s corridors, of selling people’s aspirations for ministerial berths. And National Conference was not an innocent bystander in that decay – it was the architect.
So here we are. The same party that compromised our autonomy is now the champion of our dignity. The same leader who had six years in power to secure Kashmir’s position, but squandered it on Twitter banter and photo-ops, is now seeking signatures. If political irony were a sport, Omar would be our undisputed world champion. We might even have got a Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Let’s be clear. This is not about statehood. This is about relevance. The NC knows it is losing narrative control. After the 2019 constitutional changes, it failed to mount any effective political resistance. After the 2024 parliamentary embarrassment, it knows its vote bank is restless. And so, a signature drive is a safe, non-confrontational gimmick. It makes the party look busy without taking any political risks.
It’s clever, in a way. When you can’t deliver results, you deliver petitions. When you can’t win the war, you start an art project. The more romantic among us may even believe that these signatures will be presented to the Prime Minister, who will read them tearfully, pick up the phone, and announce, “Restore statehood to Kashmir!” He might even shiver! Reality check: the only thing Delhi might do is file them under ‘Public Amusement’.
Statehood is not a gift that will fall into your lap because you filled a notebook with names. It is a political outcome, won through strategy, alliances, and leverage. NC had all three when it mattered – and it squandered them. It squandered us – lock, stock and barrel. It has been doing so ever since but we are unfortunate and irrational enough not to understand it.
Let’s not forget Walter Rooper Lawrence, and his observation about us. While acknowledged our skills crafts, he also remarked that this industriousness was often paired with cunningness and opportunism. Omar Abdullah is no less Kashmiri and we are no less Kashmiri too. While we showed our opportunism in voting for him (and showing BJP our voting prowess), once elected, he is now at his cunning best.
But here’s the deeper tragedy. By reducing the fight for statehood to a roadshow of pen and paper, the NC is trivializing the issue. It turns a structural political demand into a college-campus signature stunt. It makes our demand look weak, unserious, and amateurish. And that suits Delhi just fine.
If Omar Abdullah really wanted statehood, he would be forging a united front of all J&K parties, lobbying in Parliament, mobilizing the diaspora, and engaging international opinion. He would be drafting a concrete, time-bound action plan and challenging Delhi openly. We would also have expected him to tell us what and how would his roadmap for our progress and wellbeing be if statehood was granted, In the same breath, we would have expected him to explain what was NC’s giving when they were in power and we were a state. Instead, we get hashtags, speeches to the converted, and photos of him bending over a desk while someone signs his petition.
And yet, the NC faithful will clap. They will call this “grassroots democracy” and “people’s empowerment.” They will forget that the last time Omar Abdullah had real power, he left the state weaker, poorer, and more divided. They will forget that it was under NC’s watch that trust in mainstream politics collapsed completely.
Over a time, even the NC faithful should be embarrassed. This is not resistance – it’s performance art. A campaign that demands nothing, risks nothing, and delivers nothing. But it will keep the NC in the headlines, which is the only “state” they seem interested in restoring – the state of being noticed.
So, let’s applaud this new campaign for what it is – a masterclass in political downsizing. From Chief Minister to Chief Sign Collector. From ruling the state to begging for it back. From policy to petitions. Omar Abdullah’s political journey is a case study in how to go from relevance to redundancy in just over a decade.
Statehood will return one day, perhaps. But it will not be because Omar walked through Lal Chowk with a pen in hand. It will be because political will, public unity, and strategic muscle forced Delhi to act. Until then, we will have to make do with the theatre of petitions – while the real decisions are made far from the ink-stained desks of NC’s signature stalls.
Even then, here’s the final twist: When and if statehood eventually returns, on Delhi’s timetable, not Omar’s – NC will claim credit. They will point to these petitions as proof of their “struggle.” And enough people will believe it to keep them alive for one more election cycle. This is not politics; it’s political taxidermy – stuffing a dead legacy and propping it up for display.
