Mehbooba Mufti Responds to Dulat's Controversial Claims
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Synopsis
On April 17, Mehbooba Mufti, the former J&K Chief Minister, commented on A.S. Dulat's revelations regarding Farooq Abdullah's private support for the abrogation of Article 370. She expressed no surprise, citing previous meetings between Abdullah and Modi. The discussion also touched on the Waqf Act and the impact on Muslim communities.
Key Takeaways
- Mehbooba Mufti expresses no surprise at Dulat’s claims.
- Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019.
- Claims of a coalition agreement between PDP and BJP regarding Article 370.
- Concerns raised over the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
- Calls for peaceful resistance from the Muslim community.
Srinagar, April 17 (NationPress) Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, expressed on Thursday that she finds no shock in the comments made by former R&AW Chief A. S. Dulat in his recent book, which reveals that National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah supposedly supported the abrogation of Article 370 in private.
“The insights shared by Dulat are not new to me. On August 3, 2019, the father-son pair (Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah) visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Notably, Farooq Sahib did not attend Parliament on August 5, 2019, and chose to stay back. Therefore, none of this surprises me,” she stated during a PDP workers’ convention in Srinagar.
The abrogation of Article 370, which provided special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, took place on August 5, 2019.
Mehbooba also asserted that in 2014, Omar Abdullah met with Amit Shah regarding government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“He advised Amit Shah against forming a government with the PDP, instead suggesting an unconditional alliance with the NC,” she alleged.
The book by Dulat, titled ‘The Chief Minister and the Spy’, is set to be released on April 18.
Furthermore, Mehbooba indicated that a fundamental aspect of the PDP's coalition with the BJP between 2015 and 2018 was the assurance that Article 370 would remain intact.
“During those two years and ten months, Article 370 remained unaltered,” she claimed.
The PDP leader also commented on the Waqf (Amendment) Act and the attacks on mosques and shrines, mentioning that graves are being excavated under the guise of remnants of the Mughal Empire.
“The vestiges of the Mughal Empire include the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, and Fatehpur Sikri, which attract millions of tourists annually. If one is searching for Mughal descendants, they are not among Muslims; they belong to princely lineages that married into royal families,” she said.
She also stated that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks of uplifting marginalized Muslims, she questioned whether demolishing a madrassa in Madhya Pradesh or a century-old mosque in Uttar Pradesh constitutes true upliftment for Muslims.
The former Chief Minister called on Muslims across the nation to peacefully oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
“I urge my fellow Muslims in India to resist it (Waqf Act) peacefully. The events in Murshidabad were unfortunate,” she remarked.
Farooq Abdullah has contested the claims made by former R&AW chief Dulat, asserting that Dulat has “fabricated” statements regarding his supposed support for the abrogation of Article 370.
“His book is riddled with falsehoods. It is full of inaccuracies, and if he truly considered me a friend, he would never have penned such fabrications,” the former Union Minister stated.
Meanwhile, Peoples Conference (PC) president Sajad Gani Lone commented that Dulat’s revelations were not news, as the situation was apparent from the outset.
Sajad asserted that the NC was rewarded for supposedly supporting the abrogation of Article 370 by being permitted to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir.
