Omar snubs Pak defence minister over his comments on Jammu and Kashmir polls
In an interview, the Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif had said that Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance wanted the same thing--restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir
Former J&K chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Thursday snubbed Pakistan’s defence minister over his comment on J&K elections.
Omar Abdullah, while talking to reporters in central Kashmir’s Budgam, questioned the Pak minister’s comments and said, “What has Pakistan to do with us? We are not part of Pakistan. They should take care of their own country and let us take care of our own. Their interference in our elections or commenting on our election process is not appropriate. Let them save their democracy and let us participate in our democracy,” he said.
In an interview, the Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif had said that Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance wanted the same thing--restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
NC president Farooq Abdullah told a new agency: “I don’t know what Pakistan says. I am not a Pakistani, I am an Indian citizen.”
The comments of the Pak defence minister have prompted the Bharatiya Janata Party to target Congress and NC.
Union home minister Amit Shah, in a post on ‘X’, said that Pakistan’s defence minister’s statement about Congress and JKNC’s support on Article 370 and 35A has once again exposed Congress.
“This statement has once again made it clear that Congress and Pakistan have the same intentions and agenda. For the last few years, Rahul Gandhi has been standing with every anti-India force, hurting the sentiments of the countrymen. Be it asking for proof of air strikes and surgical strikes or saying objectionable things about the Indian Army, the tune of Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party and Pakistan has always been the same and Congress has always been hand in glove with the anti-national forces,” he said.
Shah further stressed: “But, Congress Party and Pakistan forget that there is a Modi Government at the centre, hence neither Article 370 nor terrorism is going to come back in Kashmir”.
The special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and 35 A was revoked in August 2019. The state was further split into two union territories- J&K and Ladakh.
Since then local mainstream parties like NC and Peoples Democratic Party have been talking about the restoration of Art 370 while the national party Congress has promised people of J&K to ensure restoration of J&K’s statehood.
BJP leader Amit Malviya said that Pakistan, “a terrorist state”, endorses Congress and National Conference’s position on Kashmir. . “How is it that, from Pannun to Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi and his Congress, are always seen on the side of those inimical to India’s interest?,” he said.