Umar, Mehbooba clash over jail over BJP bringing Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar, Ta. August 12, 2019, Monday

Who brought the BJP to Jammu and Kashmir? National Conference or PDP? There were fierce arguments on this issue between National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti. As the conflict escalated, the two had to be kept separate during the confinement.

Jammu and Kashmir leaders have been kept under house arrest after Article 370 was canceled. Omar Abdullah, the leader of the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti, the head of the PDP, were detained at the Hari Niwas Palace. There was a discussion between the two at that time about Kashmir and the issue of who gave the BJP a force in Jammu and Kashmir. There were fierce arguments between the two on this point.

Omar Abdullah blamed Mehbooba Mufti and his eldest father, Mufti Mohammad Saeed. Omar argued that Mufti Mohammad Saeed Saheb had held the post of Chief Minister from 2015 to 2018 by forming an alliance with the BJP and after his demise, Mehbooba maintained that alliance. That is how the BJP entered Jammu and Kashmir because of the PDP.

On the other hand, Mehbooba Mufti's argument was that the National Conference had a role in making the BJP a first step in Jammu and Kashmir. Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government was the National Conference alliance with BJP.

Mehbooba also told Umar that under Vajpayee's government, Omar Abdullah himself was the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Mehbooba even said that Umar's grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, had an active role when Kashmir was annexed to India.

The arguments then escalated between the two. Umar refused to stay in the residence. Officers then kept Omar Abdullah in the Cheshma Shahi Forest Department building near Mahadev hill and Mehbooba Mufti was kept in the Hari Niwas Palace.