Srinagar, May 7: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday accused PDP president Mehbooba Mufti of opposing the withdrawal of the controversial AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir when he was the chief minister.
“I have not forgotten this thing. When I was talking about the removal of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) from here (in 2012-13), Mehbooba Mufti, who is PDP president, said Omar Abdullah is disrespecting the Army.
“She said the talk about the revocation of AFSPA is belittling the Army. That is where the opposition to revocation of AFSPA came from,” Abdullah told reporters in north Kashmir Kupwara district after an election meeting.
He was reacting to a statement of Apni Party leader Altaf Bukhari that time had come for the armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir to go back to the barracks.
“I had tried to send them back to the barracks in 2012 and 2013. That time the conspiracy was hatched by the party with which Bukhari was affiliated at that time. Today, they are talking about sending the army back to barracks. It is good. Better late than never,” he said.
Asked about the crisis in the National Conference (NC) in Kargil on giving support to the INDIA bloc candidates for Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, Abdullah said he cannot do anything which is beyond his control.
“To stand by our commitment to the INDIA bloc, the National Conference party has disappeared there (Kargil) because we clearly told our colleagues in Kargil that if we have to support anyone and help anyone to win, it should be Congress candidate T Namgyal.
He said the NC's colleagues in Kargil unfortunately did not accept it and decided to leave the party en masse. Expressing regret over the development, he said he had repeatedly visited Kargil after 2019 and rebuilt the NC there with a lot of difficulty.
“We cannot do anything about something that is not in our control but still I will appeal to people with National Conference in Leh and Kargil, if there are any left, to vote for Namgyal,” he added.
