Dulat's new book triggers political storm in Kashmir

PDP, PC lash out at NC over ex-RAW chief's claims on Art 370, NC dubs revelations in the book as 'figment of author's imagination'

- Mir Ehsan

SRINAGAR: Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat's revelations in his new book, The Chief Minister and the Spy, have triggered a political storm in Kashmir. In his book, Dulat wrote that in 2019, when Delhi revoked Kashmir's autonomy under Article 370, Farooq Abdullah publicly condemned the move as a "betrayal" but privately, he backed this move.

While the National Conference (NC) on Wednesday dismissed Dulat's claims as the "figment of his imagination", Opposition leaders termed the contents in the book "credible which exposes duplicity of the NC". "He (Dulat) is resorting to cheap stunts to boost the sales of his book. This book is full of mistakes. It's sad, if he considers me as his friend, and wrote such wrong things," said Farooq in a statement that was released by the NC on its social media accounts.

The first mistake in the book, he said, is that when "I formed government in 1996, I had sought his advice on cabinet formation... I formed a big cabinet of 25 ministers, and according to the book, he had advised me to form a small cabinet which I complied with. It is the first mistake. Why should I have consulted him because I had to run the government?"