Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has termed National Conference president Farooq Abdullah’s remarks on Pakistan’s claims over Kashmir as “completely incorrect”, asserting that Pakistan had harmed the region through terrorism and violence.
Azad was reacting to Abdullah’s statement at a party event in Budgam district on Saturday, where the NC president reportedly said Pakistan’s raising of the Kashmir issue at international forums had helped keep the region safe.
“I respect Farooq sahab, but his statement is completely incorrect. If anyone is an enemy of India and the people of J&K, it is Pakistan,” Azad said in a post on X.
Referring to the situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Azad pointed to protests by residents demanding their rights. He also said successive governments at the Centre, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, had contributed to Jammu and Kashmir’s development irrespective of their political affiliations.
Shia leader and former minister Imran Ansari also criticised Abdullah’s remarks, urging people not to emulate the NC president.
“Just a humble and brotherly request to my fellow Kashmiris. Please do not emulate Farooq sahab. He and some select band are free to say anything,” Ansari wrote on X.
Ansari also described the NC leadership’s dissent as “rebels on rent”, alleging that political leaders were allowed to make statements that could lead to legal action against ordinary citizens if they expressed similar views.
The BJP had also demanded police action against Abdullah over his remarks.
BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur described the statement as “seditious and anti-national” and called for Abdullah to be booked, arguing that a leader who had taken an oath under the Indian Constitution should not question the country’s intentions towards its own people while, in the BJP’s view, lending legitimacy to Pakistan’s narrative.
Thakur said Pakistan had inflicted immense suffering on Jammu and Kashmir through its alleged sponsorship of terrorism, which he said had resulted in decades of violence and targeted killings.
“Pakistan has given Kashmir nothing but terrorism, bloodshed, fear and uncertainty,” he said, questioning whether Abdullah expected people to forget the region’s history of violence.
The remarks have triggered criticism from political leaders, with Azad, Ansari and the BJP challenging Abdullah’s position on Pakistan’s role in the Kashmir issue.
