War of words between Omar, Modi intensifies

The war of words between regional National Conference (NC) leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Prime Minister Narendra Modi intensified on Tuesday with the former asking the latter to go through the history of the state.

“We have not been asking something new. We have had our own Prime minister and Sadr-e-Riyasat (president) till 1965. Whatever, I talked about is part of the constitution,” Omar said while addressing an election gathering in north Kashmir’s Pattan area of Baramulla district.

He asked the PM go through the history of Jammu and Kashmir “which will give him (Modi) an insight about Jammu and Kashmir.” “He (Modi) should read the history of India and see under which circumstances Jammu and Kashmir became part of India,” the NC leader said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Modi had attacked the opposition over Omar’s comments.

“National Conference wants 2 PMs, 1 in Kashmir & 1 for rest of India. Does Mamata Didi agree? Does U-Turn Babu agree? Does Pawar Sahab agree? Does former PM Deve Gowda Ji agree? Shame on the Opposition! Till Modi is there, no one can divide India!” the prime minister had tweeted on Monday.

Earlier, NC president and Omar’s father Farooq Abdullah dared the Government of India to scrap Articles 370 and Article 35 A, saying it will end the relationship between the state and India.

“I dare them (GoI) to even touch Article 370 and 35A,” he said during a party convention in central Ganderbal district.

Senior Abdullah, also a former union minister, said if they (GoI) say these constitutional provisions are temporary then accession is also temporary, and they have to be ready for that as well.

“Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley said they will abolish Article 35A and Article 370. Let them do it, we will also see how they can do it,” said Abdullah, who is seeking his election from Srinagar parliamentary seat.

He warned that the relationship between Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi will be over if Article 370 is scrapped.

Hitting out PM Modi, senior Abdullah said that he was not the only person capable of running the country. “He is an actor and I have never seen such an actor till now,” the NC president said.