Dismissing Dulat’s claims that the National Conference (NC) would have “helped” pass the proposal to abrogate the special status of the erstwhile state had it been taken into confidence, the 87-year-old president of the party said this was a “figment of imagination” of the author.
He said that he had taken the initiative to bring together all major political forces in Jammu and Kashmir and formed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition of political parties to defend the special status of the state.
Abdullah ridiculed Dulat’s claim that the NC would have got a resolution passed in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for the abrogation of Article 370.
“The claim in the book that the National Conference was planning to pass a resolution on the abrogation of the special status is merely a figment of the imagination of the author, who claims to be my friend,” Abdullah said.
Asked whether he had the opportunity to review the book, the NC president remarked, “It is full of inaccuracies that, after a while, I thought I was reading fiction and left it.” The former CM also referenced a specific error where Dulat claimed to have advised him against having a large Cabinet in 1996 — to say that he was “sworn in with 25 ministers”, not a small number as suggested.
Abdullah dismissed Dulat’s portrayal of their relationship, particularly the claim that he frequently heeded the author’s advice.
“The author claims that Abdullah would always listen to his advice, which is yet another example of underestimating me. I am a man of my own mind, and I only decide. I am not anyone’s puppet,” he asserted.
Abdullah expressed disappointment with Dulat’s actions. “The worst is that he claims to be my friend, and as has been said, ‘Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart, and the wound lasts a lifetime.’ I guess his inaccuracies for cheap publicity would last a lifetime now,” he added.
