Srinagar, April 16 (KNS): Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has strongly dismissed claims made by ex-RAW chief A.S. Dulat, who suggested that Abdullah had privately supported the abrogation of Article 370. Abdullah called the statements “cheap stunts” aimed at boosting sales of Dulat’s upcoming book “The Chief Minister and the Spy”, set to be released on April 18.
Abdullah, who leads the National Conference (NC), said Dulat’s claims were completely false and imagined. He denied the allegation that his party would have supported the removal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status if they had been consulted. “There was no Assembly in 2018, so how could any resolution be passed?” he asked, calling the idea “nonsense.”
He also pointed out that both he and his son, Omar Abdullah, were detained for months around the time Article 370 was scrapped in August 2019. Their opposition to the move, he said, was well-known and firm. Farooq Abdullah also reminded people of his role in forming the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition aimed at defending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
Reacting to Dulat’s claim that NC wanted closer ties with the BJP, Abdullah said this was a complete lie. “I have never tried to patch up with a party that wants to destroy mine,” he said firmly.
He also mocked Dulat’s portrayal of their relationship, denying that he ever took advice from him seriously. “I’m not a puppet,” Abdullah said. “I decide for myself.”
Abdullah criticized the book for being full of inaccuracies, saying it read more like fiction than a memoir. He mentioned one example where Dulat wrongly claimed to have advised him against forming a large Cabinet in 1996. “I had 25 ministers then,” he clarified.
Ending on a bitter note, Abdullah said Dulat’s so-called friendship had hurt him. “Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime,” he said. (KNS)