Farooq Abdullah Creates Controversy With Army-Terrorist ‘Collusion’ Remark; J-K Top Cop, BJP React

After former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah accused the Indian security agencies of being in cahoots with the terrorists attempting to infiltrate into the region, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Union Territory’s director general of police (DGP) RR Swain harshly criticised the veteran leader from the valley.

“Despite 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 colluding 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.

J-K top cop RR Swain hit out at the leader and said the statement was deplorable, while the BJP highlighted that Abdullah has made such controversial statements in the past.

“I am at a loss of words to respond to this. Let’s be very honest, the security forces, the paramilitary forces, the army and the police have lost as many as 7000 lives and continue to lose (more),” J-K DGP RR Swain told CNN-News18.

“Security forces are at the forefront and are one of the finest patriots of the Indian nation state, that is all I can say,” he further added.

“Farooq Abdullah often makes such statements. He is famous for speaking nonsense and no one takes his statements seriously,” Nirmal Singh, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, told CNN-News18.

“His background needs to 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 assumed the name of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

“It is also said that he is also associated with JKLF. It is the same mindset which we thought had changed because he was a former central minister and then became the chief minister,” Singh said, adding that Abdullah was talking like this because ‘his son lost in the last election’ referring to Omar Abdullah’s loss from the Baramulla seat to independent candidate Engineer Rashid.