Omar slams Centre over talks with Taliban
JAMMU: Former chief minister and National Conference vicepresident Omar Abdullah on Wednesday sought the Centre’s stance on Taliban – whether India looked at as a terror outfit or not.
The statements come a day after India engaged in diplomatic talks with Taliban, the first after the hardline Islamist group took over Afghanistan.
Talking to reporters at the party headquarters, Omar said, “Either Taliban is a terror organisation or it is not? Please clarify how you see the Taliban? Is Taliban a terror organisation? If it is not, will you move the United Nations to have it delisted as a terror organisation because right now you (India) are presiding over the United Nations Security Council? If it is a terror organisation then how do you distinguish between Taliban and other terror groups? If it is not a terror organisation, then please move the United Nations to have it removed from that list of terror organisations. Let their bank accounts start functioning and let’s not treat them differently but you can’t have different yardsticks for different organisations.”
“If they are a terror organisation, why are you talking to them? If they are not a terror organisation, why are you banning their bank accounts? Why are you not recognising their government? Make up your mind what it is… I am not the decision maker,” he said. The junior Abdullah, however, refused to respond to a question about his opinion on the al-qaeda’s threat to Kashmir and said that the question should be answered by Prime Minister. Omar also feigned ignorance over ‘Ghazwa-ehind’, a mission of al-qaeda and Hizb-ul-mujahideen to capture India. “I don’t know anything regarding that,” he responded.
He also said he was not aware of any statement from al-qaeda about its wish for Kashmir to be liberated and the promise of ‘Ghazwa-e-hind’ to be kept.
Farooq debunks BJP’S ‘all is well in J&K’ claim
National Conference president and Lok Sabha member Dr Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday debunked the Bharatiya Janata Party’s claim that “all is well” in Jammu and Kashmir, saying if so, how come even its activists are being killed in unfortunate militancy violence.
Addressing a day-long interactive session with the National Conference functionaries here, Abdullah dwelt upon the overall scenario and also discussed the party affairs with senior colleagues.