SRINAGAR: In his first reaction to revelations by former RAW chief A S Dulat concerning his father Farooq Abdullah’s role in the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday evoked the close friendship between the both and said, “when you have such kind of friends, you don’t need enemies.”Dulat, who is very close to the Abdullahs, in his new book titled The Chief Minister and the Spy has claimed that former chief minister Farooq Abdullah privately backed the BJP-led central government’s plan to abrogate Artcile 370, robbing off Kashmir of its special status. Dulat also alleged that Abdullah had offered to help the Centre if he had been taken into confidence. Responding to the claims, Omar said, “It is Dulat’s habit that in order to sell his book, he does not support the truth. In his first book, he did not spare anybody, and in his new book, he has left no stone unturned to humiliate Farooq Abdullah.”“It is being said that when you have such kind of friends, you don’t need enemies,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Jammu. “At last, Farooq sahib came to know about the reality of Dulat. Now, Dulat should not remain in the misunderstanding that tomorrow, when the book is released, Farooq Abdullah will stand with him there. Farooq Abdullah will never support the lies,” he said.On PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti saying that she was not surprised by Dulat’s revelation, Omar said, “If Mehbooba considers everything written by Dulat to be true, then should we consider what Dulat wrote in his first book on Mehbooba’s father to be true?”“If we consider it the truth, then Mehbooba should answer how she expects the people to believe it,” he said.Hitting out at the Abdullahs and the National Conference over Dulat’s revelations, Mehbooba Mufti said on Thursday, “I was not surprised after reading it because the National Conference can go to any extent to be in power. It has been doing this since 1947. At times, they wanted to go with India if given power, and if not in power, they advocated self-determination. Sheikh Abdullah was in jail for 22 years along with other people, but when they (NC) came to power after 22 years, they gave up their self-determination plank.”
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