India has been dishonest with people of J&K: Omar Abdullah

NEW DELHI: Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that he agreed with former Union home minister P Chidambaram’s views that the Centre had broken promises on issues that formed the state’s accession to India, saying it had been “dishonest with the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

“For want of better set of words, India has actually been dishonest with the people of J&K because you struck a deal. You struck a bargain,” he said.

“J&K acceded to India on the basis of certain conditions which is that the Union of India will be responsible for currency, communication, defence and foreign affairs everything else will be the domain of the state.

On the basis of those conditions J&K would remain a part of India. J&K to this date remains a part of India, how much of those conditions have you actually fulfilled. You have gradually whittled that away to the point that autonomy is a fig leaf to what it was in 1947. So he is not wrong,” Omar told Karan Thapar on India Today TV

However, he regretted that soon after Chidambaram’s remarks, the Congress issued a statement that it was the ex-minister’s personal views. “Here is a person who is talking out of box and is ready to take the first knock and we pull him down,” he said.

Replying to a question if an initiative by Narendra Modi could normalise situation in the Valley, Abdullah said any initiative by the PM to resolve the current crisis in the Valley could calm tempers. He added that if any initiative isn’t followed up it becomes difficult to sort out.

On the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA), the former CM said, “I don’t know how the Army has become a villain. Army has always maintained that they don’t want to stay permanently and want to go back to barracks.

But they oppose withdrawal of draconian law and also any reduction. So this is a contradictory stand.”