Mehbooba Mufti Slams Farooq Abdullah over Pahalgam Remark

Srinagar: After a pause due to the Pahalgam terror attack which had unified politicians of Jammu and Kashmir, political sparring is once again gripping the region.

On Saturday, former chief minister and opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba slammed Farooq Abdullah, her counterpart in the ruling National Conference (NC), over his remarks implying that the Pahalgam terror attack could not have taken place without the inside support.

“I don’t think these things can happen unless someone cooperates with them. They came from there (Pakistan)…how did they come? I had said it earlier also when Moulana Masood Azhar (founder of Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit) was released. I had said don’t release him because he knows…he has created his pathways. Maybe he too is involved. But nobody listened to me,” Mr. Abdullah had earlier said in an interview to a TV channel.

The NC supremo has served the erstwhile state of J&K thrice as chief minister including when radical Islamist Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi aka Moulana Masood Azhar, was along with Srinagar resident and Al-Umar Mujahideen chief Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Harkat-ul-Ansar (also known as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen) member Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh swapped with the passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines IC 814 at Kandahar (Afghanistan) in December 1999.

Masood Azhar, a Pakistan national was arrested by the security forces from Khanabal near Anantnag town in 1994, weeks after he had travelled to India under a fake identity showing him a journalist.

Ms. Mufti termed Mr. Abdullah’s remarks as “deeply disturbing and regrettable” and said that these can risk fuelling divisive narratives and, thereby, providing ammunition to certain media channels to further stigmatise Kashmiris and the Muslims.

She wrote in English and Urdu on ‘X’, “Farooq Sahab’s statement implicating Kashmiris in the Pahalgam terror attack is deeply disturbing & regrettable. As a senior leader that too as a Kashmiri, his statement risks fuelling divisive narratives providing ammunition to certain media channels to further stereotype & stigmatize Kashmiris & Muslims”. She added, “This isn’t only misleading but fatal at a time when students & traders from J&K are already facing heightened vulnerability & attacks. We should draw inspiration from Himanshi Narwal who despite the martyrdom of her husband urged Indians not to blame and target Kashmiris or Muslims”.

The NC was quick to react and, in a counter argument, termed Ms. Mufti’s criticism as misplaced and unwarranted. “It’s shocking that someone who has served as chief minister would stoop this low,” said party chief spokesman and MLA Tanvir Sadiq. “Mehbooba Mufti is lying. Farooq Sahab never mentioned ‘Kashmiris’ or ‘locals’,” he said.

He added, “At a time when we’re trying to protect Kashmiri students, traders, and families across India, it’s shameful to misrepresent his words and endanger them further. Mehbooba should apologise and delete that tweet unless she can prove he said what she claims. This is not politics, it’s recklessness”.

J&K People’s Conference chairman and lawmaker Sajad Gani Lone called the sparring between J&K’s two major political parties “unwanted and undesirable" and stressed the need for a pause in political infighting among regional parties in the interest of people and peace.

“We will have many, many more moments to fight it out politically. But these are trying circumstances. We have lakhs of students, traders outside Kashmir who are sacred. There are war clouds. There are Youtubers who have descended here in Kashmir to create a narrative which fits the typical stereotype of a hostile Kashmiri,” he said in a post on ‘X’.

Mr. Lone asserted that, amid such a situation, accusations and counter accusations by local parties will not help. “It is most unwanted and undesirable. Let us face it. There is nobody squeaky clean out here. Time to take a hiatus for at least the coming month. This is not a sermon. Trust me— I too am itching for a fight. But not now. Will try my best to stay out of any political mudslinging,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in the J&K Assembly Sunil Sharma while reacting to Mr. Abdullah’s statement that Pakistan should be taught a lesson said that he does not take his assertions seriously. “In the last few years, he has spoken in the language of China, Pakistan, and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Sometimes he said (Narendra) Modi will need ten births to abrogate Article 370,” the BJP leader said while talking to reporters in the northern town of Bandipore.

He added, “He (Farooq Abdullah) is a senior leader, and I am not as experienced, but people should look at his statement history and ask themselves whether such statements can be trusted.”

Mr. Sharma, however, also said, “If you have taken a stand against Pakistan, which I haven’t seen before, then stick to this statement and don’t say something else in the evening.