Former Analysis and Evaluation Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat’s revelations in his new e book, The Chief Minister and the Spy, have triggered a political storm in Kashmir.
In his e book, Dulat wrote that in 2019, when Delhi revoked Kashmir’s autonomy underneath Article 370, Farooq Abdullah publicly condemned the transfer as a “betrayal” however privately, he backed this transfer.
Whereas the Nationwide Convention (NC) on Wednesday dismissed Dulat’s claims because the “figment of his creativeness”, Opposition leaders termed the contents within the e book “credible which exposes duplicity of the NC”.
“He (Dulat) is resorting to low-cost stunts to spice up the gross sales of his e book. This e book is filled with errors. It’s unhappy, if he considers me as his good friend, and wrote such fallacious issues,” stated Farooq in a press release that was launched by the NC on its social media accounts.
The primary mistake within the e book, he stated, is that when “I shaped authorities in 1996, I had sought his recommendation on cupboard formation… I shaped an enormous cupboard of 25 ministers, and in keeping with the e book, he had suggested me to kind a small cupboard which I complied with. It’s the first mistake. Why ought to I’ve consulted him as a result of I needed to run the federal government.”
Farooq stated Dulat additionally wrote within the e book that the CM used to seek the advice of him in each matter. “The CM doesn’t seek the advice of anyone aside from the cupboard. It’s a secret assembly between ministers and the chief minister. It may well’t be divulged to anyone. That is what I noticed even once I was minister within the Manmohan Singh cupboard.”
Farooq additionally denied that they have been able to go along with the BJP. “He (Dulat) has written in his e book we have been able to go along with the BJP which isn’t factually appropriate. When Article 370 was abrogated, we have been in jail, whereas the Union residence minister within the Parliament stated that we’re free. Then I spoke to the press and the identical night we have been booked underneath the Public Security Act.”
Farooq denied Dulat’s declare of betraying Article 370. “If that is true then why ought to I’ve handed a decision for it with full majority in 1996,” he stated.
The e book, nonetheless, has given a recent ammunition to the Opposition to focus on NC. Individuals’s Convention chairman Sajjad Lone stated: “Dulat sahib has revealed in his upcoming e book that Farooq sahib privately supported the Article 370 revocation. Coming from him makes this revelation very credible.”
“Personally, I’m not shocked at this revelation. The August 4, 2019, assembly of CM sahib (Omar Abdullah) and Farooq sahib with the PM was by no means a thriller for me,” he added.
The PC president stated the NC will deny the revelations and name it one more conspiracy towards the occasion. “They’ve perfected taking part in the sufferer card,” he stated.
Lashing out at NC, Individuals’s Democratic Celebration (PDP) Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra stated the previous spy chief has “unmasked” the NC. He additionally accused the NC of “hanging a deal” with the BJP-led central authorities. “Farooq Abdullah owes a clarification to the folks of J&Okay on Dulat’s sensational disclosure,” he added.
PDP chief Iltija Mufti stated Dulat’s revelations have made it clear what transpired within the assembly between Modi and the Abdullahs forward of the abrogation of Article 370.
“Dulat has shared how Farooq sahab agreed with Delhi’s unlawful transfer of abrogating Article 370,” she posted on X.
Parra claimed that the NC is clandestinely serving to the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and stated it was evident within the recently-concluded funds session of the meeting, when speaker Abdul Rahim Moderately allowed the MLAs of the ruling occasion to create a ruckus to stall essential non-public members’ resolutions and payments.
Chief spokesperson of the AIP Inam Un Nabi stated, “ Farooq Abdullah’s non-public endorsement of the abrogation of Article 370, as uncovered in Dulat’s e book, confirms what the folks have lengthy suspected: the NC was by no means a sufferer, however a silent collaborator.”
BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur claimed that Dulat has spoken the reality in his e book. “Individuals of his stature by no means lie. The NC knew about abrogation of Article 370 and likewise supported it,” he added.
