Modi should be thankful to Abdullah family, says PDP chief

Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said the BJP should be thankful to Abdullah family for J&K’s accession to India.

“I believe Modi should be thankful, especially to Sheikh (Abdullah) family. It is because of Sheikh (Mohammad) Abdullah (NC founder) that J&K’s accession with the country took place,” Mufti said in Srinagar on Friday.

Her comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi heavily criticised the three families, NC, PDP and Congress, during the election rallies in Srinagar and Jammu.

Mufti said when Omar Abdullah was a minister in the BJP (government), “they (NC) introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) here and banned Shahtoosh.”

“The BJP even took Omar across the world to show that J&K is not an (political) issue, but only a terrorism-related issue that should be resolved by attacking Pakistan,” she said.

“I think the BJP should be thankful to Omar, who helped them in implementing their agenda here when he was a minister,” she said.

Responding to a question, Mufti said if the Abdullah family had “implemented Pakistan’s agenda, then J&K “would not have been a part of India, but Pakistan’s or an independent state.”