Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat’s revelations in his new book, The Chief Minister and the Spy, have triggered a political storm in Kashmir.
In his book, Dulat wrote that in 2019, when Delhi revoked Kashmir’s autonomy under Article 370, Farooq Abdullah publicly condemned the move as a “betrayal” but privately, he backed this move.
While the National Conference (NC) on Wednesday dismissed Dulat’s claims as the “figment of his imagination”, Opposition leaders termed the contents in the book “credible which exposes duplicity of the NC”.
“He (Dulat) is resorting to cheap stunts to boost the sales of his book. This book is full of mistakes. It’s sad, if he considers me as his friend, and wrote such wrong things,” said Farooq in a statement that was released by the NC on its social media accounts.
The first mistake in the book, he said, is that when “I formed government in 1996, I had sought his advice on cabinet formation... I formed a big cabinet of 25 ministers, and according to the book, he had advised me to form a small cabinet which I complied with. It is the first mistake. Why should I have consulted him because I had to run the government.”
Farooq said Dulat also wrote in the book that the CM used to consult him in every matter. “The CM doesn’t consult anybody other than the cabinet. It’s a secret meeting between ministers and the chief minister. It can’t be divulged to anybody. This is what I saw even when I was minister in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.”
Farooq also denied that they were ready to go with the BJP. “He (Dulat) has written in his book we were ready to go with the BJP which is not factually correct. When Article 370 was abrogated, we were in jail, while the Union home minister in the Parliament said that we are free. Then I spoke to the press and the same evening we were booked under the Public Safety Act.”
Farooq denied Dulat’s claim of betraying Article 370. “If this is true then why should I have passed a resolution for it with full majority in 1996,” he said.
The book, however, has given a fresh ammunition to the Opposition to target NC. People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone said: “Dulat sahib has revealed in his upcoming book that Farooq sahib privately supported the Article 370 revocation. Coming from him makes this revelation very credible.”
“Personally, I’m not surprised at this revelation. The August 4, 2019, meeting of CM sahib (Omar Abdullah) and Farooq sahib with the PM was never a mystery for me,” he added.
The PC president said the NC will deny the revelations and call it yet another conspiracy against the party. “They have perfected playing the victim card,” he said.
Lashing out at NC, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra said the former spy chief has “unmasked” the NC. He also accused the NC of “striking a deal” with the BJP-led central government. “Farooq Abdullah owes a clarification to the people of J&K on Dulat’s sensational disclosure,” he added.
PDP leader Iltija Mufti said Dulat’s revelations have made it clear what transpired in the meeting between Modi and the Abdullahs ahead of the abrogation of Article 370.
“Dulat has shared how Farooq sahab agreed with Delhi’s illegal move of abrogating Article 370,” she posted on X.
Parra claimed that the NC is clandestinely helping the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and said it was evident in the recently-concluded budget session of the assembly, when speaker Abdul Rahim Rather allowed the MLAs of the ruling party to create a ruckus to stall important private members’ resolutions and bills.
Chief spokesperson of the AIP Inam Un Nabi said, “ Farooq Abdullah’s private endorsement of the abrogation of Article 370, as exposed in Dulat’s book, confirms what the people have long suspected: the NC was never a victim, but a silent collaborator.”
BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur claimed that Dulat has spoken the truth in his book. “People of his stature never lie. The NC knew about abrogation of Article 370 and also supported it,” he added.