Srinagar, July 31 : Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) Chairman, Ghulam Nabi Azad, on Thursday said that true leadership is built through reasoned speech, not disruption.
Azad was speaking after attending a Gandhi Global Family event. Following the event, he addressed a press conference where he shared his views on Parliament conduct, political responsibility, and the changing nature of politics in Jammu and Kashmir.
“When I became the President of the Youth Congress, around 40-50 members from the Youth Congress had won elections. We were given a block in Parliament. Whenever the opposition leader stood up to speak, we would remain silent and listen,” Azad said.
He recalled an incident from the early 1980s involving former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “She once told me, ‘You are young and have not come here to make noise. You’ve come to speak prepare well and speak in Parliament.’ That advice has stayed with me ever since,” he said.
According to KNS, Azad said that disrupting the functioning of the House is not a responsible way to oppose the government. “If you don’t want to let the House run, then why contest elections? You can stay at home and oppose. Parliament is meant to raise national, international, economic, and public issues not for creating noise,” he said.
He added that frequent walkouts during debates only end up helping the ruling party.“If the opposition keeps leaving the House, they are supporting the government by not holding it accountable,” he said.
Azad also commented on the mindset of some political leaders. “There’s a tendency among senior leaders to remain ministers forever. They keep trying to re-enter the system in one way or another. On the other hand, many new people DDC and BDC members have joined politics in large numbers in the past few months,” he said.
Speaking on his own political future, he said, “I have yet to decide whether I will contest or not. Politics in Kashmir is based more on emotion than on issues. I give only one speech in every election whether in Jammu, Delhi, or Srinagar. People may want me to speak at multiple places, but that’s not in my control.”
On the issue of security and law enforcement, Azad said the forces had full freedom during his tenure, with one important condition. “Operations must go on, but there should be no human rights violations or fake encounters. Once, when three civilians were wrongly killed and passed off as militants, I personally investigated the case and exposed it. After that, such incidents stopped,” he said.
Azad said, “If the Prime Minister is engaging with the Vice President of the United States, that in itself is a strong message. There is no reason not to believe him.”(KNS)
