Srinagar, Aug. 18 -- 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!

Petition politics...