Jammu, Apr 16: PDP MLA Waheed ur Rehman Parra lashed out at the National Conference on Wednesday over former RAW chief A S Dulat’s disclosure in his latest book that Farooq Abdullah privately backed the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, saying “the party (NC) has played a role to justify every erosion and normalise that erosion since 1947”.
Parra accused the NC of entering into a “deal” with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre, while defending his party’s past alliance with the saffron outfit. “There is a difference between an alliance and a covert deal,” the senior People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader said.
Talking to reporters at the PDP headquarters here, Parra said Abdullah, the NC president and a former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, owes a clarification to the people of the Union Territory on Dulat’s sensational disclosure.
“Dulat’s book accuses Farooq sahab of being on board and privately supporting the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. This is a big allegation…. We want him (Abdullah) to give a clarification on the allegations levelled by his friend,” he said.
Abdullah on Wednesday reacted angrily to claims made by the former RAW chief that he had “privately backed” the Article 370 abrogation and accused him of indulging in “cheap stunts” to boost the sales of his forthcoming book.
Dismissing Dulat’s claims that the NC would have “helped” pass the proposal to take away the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir had it been taken into confidence, the 87-year-old leader said this was a “figment of imagination” of the author.
Dulat’s book, titled “The Chief Minister and the Spy”, is slated to be released on April 18.
Parra said post 1947, Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed its own Constitution, Supreme Court, Election Commission, president and prime minister, which slowly eroded with the passage of time.
“The NC played its role in justifying and normalising every erosion, besides indulging in alleged rigging in 1987 and handing over guns to youngsters. The NC was rewarded with 50 seats (in the Assembly polls) for normalising things in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370,” he alleged.
Parra claimed that the NC is clandestinely helping the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and said it was evident in the recently-concluded budget session of the Assembly, when Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather allowed the MLAs of the ruling party to create a ruckus to stall important private members’ resolutions and bills.
“If there can be a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, why was a resolution not allowed to pass in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on the issue? They passed a resolution (in the previous session in November last year) but the word Article 370 was erased and instead, more thrust was given on statehood (restoration) because it (NC) runs the narrative of the BJP,” he said.
Parra said the PDP was in an alliance with the BJP from 2014 to 2018 while accusing the NC of entering into a secret deal with the saffron party. “There is a difference between an alliance and a deal. (Late PDP patron) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed did an alliance (with the BJP) for a solution and he did it openly. But they (NC) did it covertly. They made a deal and the result of that deal is the destruction of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 because of this (Abdullah) family and organisation,” he said.
Parra said the NC-led government in Jammu and Kashmir is silent even as people from outside are continuously getting domicile certificates.
In a written reply to a question from Parra in the Assembly recently, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds the charge of the revenue department, said the government has issued more than 35.12 lakh domicile certificates in the last two years.
Among those, 83,742 certificates have been granted to individuals who were not originally state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir, the chief minister added.
Prior to the abrogation of Article 370, Article 35A had restricted outsiders from becoming domiciles or state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir, a provision that was in place since 1927, when Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh enacted the state-subject laws.
Under the new rules post the August 2019 developments, individuals who have lived in the Union Territory for 15 years or studied here for seven years are eligible for domicile rights, including access to government employment and land ownership.
Continuing his tirade against the NC, Parra accused its government of preferring silence over issues that are sensitive in nature, such as the release of political prisoners and termination of government employees on allegations of terror links.
“Everything that is happening in Jammu and Kashmir is part of a pattern. The historical betrayal that the NC leadership has been doing with Jammu and Kashmir…. They are again running the same script,” he alleged. (Agencies)
