SRINAGAR: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said Saturday the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that left 26 people dead could not have taken place without local assistance. “I don’t think these things can happen unless someone supports them,” he said.
Abdullah also reiterated his party’s longstanding opposition to Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), saying the agreement has harmed the region’s interests and must be reviewed.
His comments about local support in the Pahalgam attack drew criticism from PDP president and ex-CM Mehbooba Mufti. She called his remarks “deeply disturbing” and “regrettable”.
“As a senior leader, that too as a Kashmiri, his statement risks fuelling divisive narratives providing ammunition to certain media channels to further stereotype & stigmatise Kashmiris and Muslims,” Mufti said in a post on X. “This isn’t only misleading but fatal at a time when students and traders from J&K are already facing heightened vulnerability and attacks.”
NC pushed back against Mufti’s interpretation of the remarks. Party chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq accused her of twisting Abdullah’s words and demanded an apology.
“It’s shocking that someone who has served as CM would stoop this low. Farooq Abdullah never mentioned ‘Kashmiris’ or ‘locals’,” Sadiq said in a statement. “At a time when we’re trying to protect Kashmiri students, traders, and families across India, it’s shameful to misrepresent his words and endanger them further.”
Abdullah visited the family of Syed Adil Hussain Shah, the pony handler killed in the attack, at Hapatnar in Pahalgam. He welcomed central govt’s announcement to suspend the water treaty with Pakistan and urged govt to divert Chenab water to Jammu and build power infrastructure on Jhelum in Kashmir.
“We do not want their (Pakistan’s) water supply to be stopped, but we have a right on our rivers. Today if you go to Jammu, you see there is a huge shortage of water,” he said.
Abdullah recalled that his government had tried to draw water from the Chenab to Jammu but was blocked by the World Bank under IWT restrictions. “Today is the opportunity for us to divert this water from there to Jammu,” he said.
“In Kashmir we are deprived of electricity. We can generate thousands of megawatts,” he added, calling on the government to build hydropower infrastructure on the Jhelum.
Referring to the Pahalgam attack, Abdullah said: “They (terrorists) have lost it. It has been proven today that we are not going to get scared. Kashmir was and will always be a part of India. People want terrorism to finish.”