Farooq ‘backed’ Article 370 move, claims Dulat; NC chief calls its cheap stunt

Former RAW chief and long-time Kashmir watcher Amarjit Singh Dulat’s revelation that former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had “backed" the Article 370 abrogation triggered a political storm in the Valley on Wednesday. While opposition parties described it “betrayal” by the National Conference president, Farooq accused Dulat of “cheap stunt" to boost the sales of his forthcoming book which was “full of inaccuracies”.

In his new book, ‘The Chief Minister and the Spy – An Unlikely Friendship’, Dulat, while writing about the Article 370, said: “Farooq was terribly hurt…maybe. When I met him in 2020, he told me ‘the NC (National Conference) could even have had the proposal passed in the Assembly… we would have helped. Why were we not taken into confidence?’”

Dulat, in an interview to a journalist on Wednesday, said “…it means, if we (NC) had been taken into confidence, we could have found ways of overcoming this without having to send extra troops and scaring everybody and making it difficult for Kashmir to accept this.”

Ridiculing Dulat’s claim, Farooq said: “The claim in the book that the National Conference was planning to pass a resolution on the abrogation of the special status is merely a figment of the imagination of the author who claims to be my friend."

The Former RAW chief’s revelations, however, triggered sharp reaction from the Opposition. JK People’s Conference chief and Handwara MLA Sajad Lone said: “Coming from Dulat sahib makes this revelation very credible. Dulat sahib is the closest ally of Farooq sahib.”

“I personally am not surprised at this revelation. The August 4, 2019, meeting of CM sahib and Farooq sahib with the PM was never a mystery for me. I can visualise Farooq sahib saying, ‘Humey roney deejiye, aap apna kaam karein. Hum aap kay Saath hain‘. It now seems 2024 was a prize for services rendered in 2019. Of course in the national interest,” he said on X.

Awami Ittehad Party chief spokesperson Inam Un Nabi said: “The people of Jammu and Kashmir were stabbed in the back not by strangers, but by those who claimed to be their guardians. Dr Farooq Abdullah’s private endorsement of the abrogation of Article 370 confirms what the people have long suspected: the National Conference was never a victim, but a silent collaborator”. 

Pulwama MLA and senior PDP leader Waheed Para said revelations today “ripped off the last remaining mask.”

“The fiery speeches, the staged outrage, the carefully crafted image of “fighting the BJP” – it was all theatrics. A performance designed to mislead the people of Jammu and Kashmir into believing that the National Conference was standing guard over their rights. In truth, they were complicit – quiet facilitators of our disempowerment. But really, should this come as a surprise?,” he wrote on X. “This is the same NC that watched silently for decades as Article 370 was gradually hollowed out — posing as protectors while doing nothing to actually protect.”

Former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattu said, “The shocking revelation by the Former RAW Chief should have resulted in statewide protests and a call for this Government to respond officially.”

“But not only do we stand backstabbed by the ruling alliance, we also stand orphaned for the lack of a credible, serious opposition,” he said.

The National Conference on Wednesday was quick to refute the claims made in the book. Farooq’s daughter Safia Abdullah said she had “never trusted" Dulat. “…I have read this book and he has played fast and loose with the truth once again," she said on X.

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