Ex-RAW chief dismisses reports that Farooq Abdullah agreed to help in abrogation of Article 370

New Delhi: Former RAW chief A S Dulat on Thursday dismissed media reports that former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah had "privately" suggested that he would have helped in the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019 had he been taken into confidence as "bunkum".

Neither the National Conference (NC) chief ever said this nor has he mentioned this in his forthcoming book, the former head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the external intelligence agency of the country, said.

The controversy stems from Dulat's new book, titled The chief minister and the spy, slated for release on Friday, in which he has suggested that Abdullah was hurt at his detention on August 5, 2019 and had indicated a willingness to cooperate had he been consulted.

"Did he ever say that? Did I ever say that? That is absolutely bunkum," Dulat told PTI in an interview, attempting to clarify his remarks.

"Some newspapers picked it up and made a big issue out of it and now, even in Kashmir, it has been blown up," he said.

Asked about the controversy over the Article 370 issue from his book, in which he has written that Abdullah told him that Delhi should have consulted him and maybe, he could have helped, Dulat clarified, saying the NC chief had said the Centre ought to take the political leadership of Jammu and Kashmir into confidence.

"'Was there any need to lock us up'? He was very hurt," Dulat said, further clarifying that the issue is about being locked up, being hurt.

This statement, according to Dulat, was misinterpreted as Abdullah suggesting that he would have aided in watering down Article 370.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370, which had given special rights to Jammu and Kashmir, on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.

Asked if Abdullah told him that he could have helped in "watering down" Article 370, Dulat said, "Of course not. It is absolutely bunkum. The book is not a critique of Dr Abdullah." He said some newspapers have picked it up and made a big issue out of it and now, two sides in Kashmir are taking different views on it.

"It was not intended like that," Dulat said.

He also dismissed reports that Abdullah had privately agreed to the abrogation of Article 370.

"This (book) is an appreciation of Dr Farooq Abdullah, not a critique," Dulat said.

Citing an instance from the 1990s, Dulat said Abdullah had told him that he was not like his father, Sheikh Abdullah, and had not joined politics to go to jail.

He recalled Abdullah telling him that his politics is straight and he would be with whoever is in power in Delhi.

His relationship with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda was the best because the latter "never troubled him", Dulat said.

Asked whether it does not give credence to the critics of Abdullah, who say that he sided with Delhi and not Kashmir, Dulat said, "Not at all. Wrong. Today, unfortunately, this whole ruckus has come up and somebody should apologise for it. If you want me to apologise, I will apologise. But the point is, he is the tallest leader in Kashmir. He is Kashmir. I have said it in the book." Dulat said Delhi never understood Abdullah and it was only Deve Gowda who understood him.

On a question on former ISI chief Asad Durrani expressing satisfaction at Abdullah's detention following the abrogation of Article 370, Dulat said people were saying things like "aur bolo Jai Mata Ki" and "good that he is arrested".

"In that context, when people were abusing and the boys outside were saying such things, Durrani Sahab also said, 'It is good, let him be behind bars'. Around the same time, his (Abdullah's) book was released. When he (Durrani) saw the foreword to his book, he said, 'I apologise, please convey my regards to Doctor Sahab'." Dulat said there has been mistrust between the Abdullahs and Kashmiri Pandits, which goes back to Sheikh Abdullah's arrest.

"I cannot elaborate fully but I can tell you that in 2014, when I was writing my first book, Khalida (Sheikh Abdullah's daughter) told me, 'we knew something was going to happen, that papa might be arrested'. I asked her how did they know. She said people had started behaving differently," Dulat said.

He said Abdullah had met Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik and scolded him while he was arrested.

On the promise of the vice president's post to Abdullah, Dulat said,"What I had witnessed was that Brajesh Mishra had promised him. Farooq sahab had said that the prime minister and the deputy prime minister had also told him about it."