Omar Abdullah reacts as PDP accuses him of echoing divisive politics
By : Yusuf Jameel
Update: 2024-06-06 07:08 GMT
SRINAGAR: Omar Abdullah’s using direct quotes from an article published in a news portal that said the independent Engineer Abdur Rashid Sheikh’s election victory shows Kashmiri secessionism is far from spent is roiling Kashmir politics with the former chief minister being openly accused of echoing divisive politics by his opponents.
Mr. Abdullah who lost to Eng. Rashid in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla by a margin of over 2.04 lakh votes had in a post on microblogging site ‘X’ quoted from Praveen Swami’s article published in The Print which said, “Rashid’s victory, without doubt, will empower secessionists, and give Kashmir’s defeated Islamist movement a renewed sense of hope. Efforts to draw secessionism back into electoral politics led New Delhi to support the rise of the People’s Democratic Party, and its alliance with the BJP. That, however, ended up empowering violent secessionists, not mainstreaming them—a warning of the unpredictable outcomes of trying to manipulate politics.”
But as some news agencies attributed these lines quoted from the digital platform to Mr. Abdullah, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed Ur Rehman Parra too came on ‘X’ to say that he was extremely disappointed with the former chief minister’s “regressive stance”. He said, “Extremely disappointed with @OmarAbdullah’s 's regressive stance, echoing the divisive politics of 1987, and dubbing a democratic expression as an 'Islamist wave'. His family's history with the Muslim Conference clashes with calls for the exclusion of PDP, Er Rashid, and JEI (Jamaat-e-Islami), and will put Kashmir into perpetual conflict with the state. A more prudent approach, akin to @MehboobaMufti's plea for Er Rashid's release, would have been acknowledgment of mandate”.
Mr. Abdullah was quick to reply to the criticism. He said, “Waheed, I don’t normally get into any back & forth conversations here but this time I’ll make an exception. I spent my entire campaign talking about Engineer’s release & unlike his campaign I talked about the release of the 1000s detained since 2019”.
He clarified that what his ‘X’ post had said were not his own views, but he had only quoted from a published article. “The articles I’ve put here are not my views, but they are a point of view. I may agree with parts, disagree with parts but they are an opinion”.
The National Conference (NC) vice president further stated, “As for Rashid’s release, it’s a matter for the courts as it is in all such cases. I didn’t agree with Rashid’s detention in the first place & I don’t agree with it now but that’s neither here nor there because it shouldn’t be just about one man but about the 1000s in jail, including the anonymous ones outside J&K.”
NC’s chief spokesperson and communication in-charge Tanvir Sadiq took an exception to his party leader being dragged into an unnecessary controversy. Quoting a post of ANI Digital which too attributed “Engineer Rashid's victory will empower secessionists in J-K” quote to Mr. Abdullah, he wrote on ‘X’, “This is highly irresponsible. He never made that statement; he simply quoted an opinion piece written by Parveen Swamy. This is an extreme case of irresponsible journalism. Please address this immediately.”
Mr. Abdullah who lost to Eng. Rashid in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla by a margin of over 2.04 lakh votes had in a post on microblogging site ‘X’ quoted from Praveen Swami’s article published in The Print which said, “Rashid’s victory, without doubt, will empower secessionists, and give Kashmir’s defeated Islamist movement a renewed sense of hope. Efforts to draw secessionism back into electoral politics led New Delhi to support the rise of the People’s Democratic Party, and its alliance with the BJP. That, however, ended up empowering violent secessionists, not mainstreaming them—a warning of the unpredictable outcomes of trying to manipulate politics.”
But as some news agencies attributed these lines quoted from the digital platform to Mr. Abdullah, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed Ur Rehman Parra too came on ‘X’ to say that he was extremely disappointed with the former chief minister’s “regressive stance”. He said, “Extremely disappointed with @OmarAbdullah’s 's regressive stance, echoing the divisive politics of 1987, and dubbing a democratic expression as an 'Islamist wave'. His family's history with the Muslim Conference clashes with calls for the exclusion of PDP, Er Rashid, and JEI (Jamaat-e-Islami), and will put Kashmir into perpetual conflict with the state. A more prudent approach, akin to @MehboobaMufti's plea for Er Rashid's release, would have been acknowledgment of mandate”.
Mr. Abdullah was quick to reply to the criticism. He said, “Waheed, I don’t normally get into any back & forth conversations here but this time I’ll make an exception. I spent my entire campaign talking about Engineer’s release & unlike his campaign I talked about the release of the 1000s detained since 2019”.
He clarified that what his ‘X’ post had said were not his own views, but he had only quoted from a published article. “The articles I’ve put here are not my views, but they are a point of view. I may agree with parts, disagree with parts but they are an opinion”.
The National Conference (NC) vice president further stated, “As for Rashid’s release, it’s a matter for the courts as it is in all such cases. I didn’t agree with Rashid’s detention in the first place & I don’t agree with it now but that’s neither here nor there because it shouldn’t be just about one man but about the 1000s in jail, including the anonymous ones outside J&K.”
NC’s chief spokesperson and communication in-charge Tanvir Sadiq took an exception to his party leader being dragged into an unnecessary controversy. Quoting a post of ANI Digital which too attributed “Engineer Rashid's victory will empower secessionists in J-K” quote to Mr. Abdullah, he wrote on ‘X’, “This is highly irresponsible. He never made that statement; he simply quoted an opinion piece written by Parveen Swamy. This is an extreme case of irresponsible journalism. Please address this immediately.”