National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has triggered a fresh political row after remarks made at a party workers’ convention in Baramulla, north Kashmir.
In a video statement circulating widely, the veteran leader said that Pakistan’s repeated raising of the Kashmir issue at international forums is “protecting” the people of Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that the Centre remains silent due to global pressure and that New Delhi’s intentions towards Kashmiris are “not right.”
Addressing the gathering, Abdullah questioned what justice Kashmiris could expect from Delhi and warned that failure to “stand up and fight” would lead to the erasure of their identity.
He referred to Pakistan (without always naming it directly) as the neighbour that “goes everywhere saying that the Kashmir issue has not been resolved,” adding that this international noise is what is “saving us.”
The NDTV clip of the speech, with the on-screen banner “Pakistan Is Protecting Us by Raising the Kashmir Issue Worldwide,” has amplified the controversy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies have strongly condemned the comments as “seditious,” “anti-national,” and an act of treason. Party leaders have demanded an apology, police action, and questioned how a former chief minister of an Indian state can credit a hostile neighbour with “protecting” Indian citizens.
Critics point out that the remarks come against the backdrop of Pakistan’s long history of supporting terrorism in the region, the 1947 tribal invasion that Abdullah himself has previously condemned, and the finality of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India.
Abdullah also reiterated that the people of J&K never denied being Indian and had acceded to “the India of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad.”
His son and current Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has not yet publicly responded to the statement.
The episode has reignited debate over political rhetoric in the Union Territory following the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which the Centre and a large section of the Indian political spectrum view as having settled the constitutional status of the region.