National Conference President Farooq Abdullah sparked controversy with his statement accusing the security forces of collaborating with terrorists. (Image: PTI)
JK DGP RR Swain and Nirmal Singh came down heavily on the veteran Valley leader, terming his remarks as “unfortunate” and “nonsense”.
After former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah accused Indian security agencies of being in cahoots with terrorists trying to infiltrate the region, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Union Territory’s Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain sharply criticized the veteran politician from the Valley.
“Despite the massive troop deployment on our borders, which could arguably be the largest in the world, terrorists continue to infiltrate into Indian territory. Yeh sab mile hue hain hamari barbadi ke liye (They are conspiring to destroy us),” he said.
Abdullah’s reaction came just a day after two Indian Army personnel and a civilian were killed in a gunfight between security forces and terrorists in Anantnag district.
Jammu and Kashmir’s chief police officer RR Swain attacked the politician and described his statement as unfortunate, while the BJP stressed that Abdullah had made such controversial statements in the past.
“I am at a loss for words to respond to this. Let’s be honest, the security forces, the paramilitary forces, the army and the police have lost up to 7,000 lives and continue to lose (more),” said JK DGP RR Swain CNN News18.
“The security forces are on the front line and are some of the finest patriots of the Indian nation-state, that is all I can say,” he added.
“Farooq Abdullah often makes such statements. He is known for talking nonsense and no one takes his statements seriously,” said Nirmal Singh, senior BJP politician and former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. CNN News18.
“His background must be understood. This is the same Farooq Abdullah whose photo is with Maqbool Bhat,” he said. Bhat was a separatist leader who attacked Kashmiri civilians and Indian Army personnel after forming the separatist group National Liberation Front (NLF), which later took the name Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
“It is also said that he is also associated with JKLF. It is the same mindset that we thought had changed because he was earlier a central minister and then became chief minister,” Singh said, adding that Abdullah was speaking like this because “his son lost in the last election,” referring to Omar Abdullah’s loss of the Baramulla seat to independent candidate Engineer Rashid.
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