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Omar Abdullah vs Mehbooba Mufti over Tulbul Navigation Project, Indus Waters Treaty: ‘Dangerously provocative’
Omar Abdullah had advocated for the revival of the Tulbul Navigation project after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday dismissed Mehbooba Mufti’s criticism of his efforts to revive the Tulbul Navigation Project, calling it a bid for “cheap publicity” and an attempt to “appease certain sections” in Pakistan.
Responding sharply, Mehbooba Mufti alleged that Omar Abdullah's grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, had once supported the idea of joining Pakistan after being ousted from power in Jammu and Kashmir.
“But post being reinstated as Chief Minister he suddenly reversed his stance by aligning with India. In contrast the PDP has consistently upheld its convictions & commitments & unlike your party whose loyalties have shifted dramatically according to political expediency,” she wrote on X.
“We don’t need to stoke tensions or adopt warmongering rhetoric to validate our dedication. Our actions speak for themselves,” the PDP leader added.
Tulbul project and Indus Waters Treaty
The National Conference leader had advocated for the revival of the Tulbul Navigation project after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Abdullah claimed that the project would allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to use Jhelum River water for navigation and improve power generation during harsh winters. He had previously criticised the World Bank brokered treaty as “deeply unfair” to the people of the new union territory.
“The Wular lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty. Now that the IWT has been “temporarily suspended” I wonder if we will be able to resume the project,” Abdullah wrote on X while posting a video of the river.
Watch the video here
Reacting to the proposal, Mufti described it as a “deeply unfortunate” one being put forth at a time when India and Pakistan stepped back from the brink of a “full-fledged war.”
“At a time when both countries have just stepped back from the brink of a full-fledged war—with Jammu and Kashmir bearing the brunt through the loss of innocent lives, widespread destruction and immense suffering such statements are not only irresponsible but also dangerously provocative. Our people deserve peace as much as anyone else in the country. Weaponizing something as essential and life giving as water is not only inhumane but also risks internationalizing what should remain a bilateral matter,” the PDP leader wrote on X.
‘Cheap publicity’
Responding to Mufti, Abdullah criticised her remark as “cheap publicity” and attempt to “please some people” in Pakistan and refusing the acknowledge the disadvantages of signing the IWT.
“Actually what is unfortunate is that with your blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points & please some people sitting across the border, you refuse to acknowledge that the IWT has been one of the biggest historic betrayals of the interests of the people of J&K. I have always opposed this treaty & I will continue to do so. Opposing a blatantly unfair treaty is in no way, shape, size or form “warmongering”, it’s about correcting a historic injustice that denied the people of J&K the right to use our water for ourselves,” the chief minister wrote on X.
