This is not Gandhi's India, says Farooq Abdullah

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and veteran politician Farooq Abdullah expressed his anguish and anger at the Government of India for breaking his “trust” and “lying” about abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir.

Abdullah spoke to NDTV in his first interview since his release from detention earlier this year.

Abdullah recalled the day he met the Prime Minister along with his son Omar in August last year. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave no indication of the move (removing Article 370). Nobody can trust the government of India anymore. There is not a day when they don’t lie. This is not Gandhi’s India,” said Abdullah.

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The former J&K CM had sensed something big was afoot because a large number of troops were moved in. So he went to meet the PM. “It just came out of the blue. I had met the PM a day before, he had given us no indication. I told him so many troops had been moved in, what was the need? Tourists were being pushed out, the (Amarnath) yatra had been cancelled. All this was strange… as if it was war with Pakistan or something,” Farooq Abdullah told NDTV.

On the perceived lack of public sympathy after his arrest, Abdullah remarked: “Many here believe you got what was coming for trusting India.”

When asked what is his message to the PM today, he said: “I would humbly request PM to be more honest and really face the facts. He knows what he did was not right.”

Eighty-three-year-old Abdullah was released in March after over seven months in detention. He was detained along with several leaders including his son Omar Abdullah and PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti on August 5 last year, when the government ended special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and imposed massive security restrictions and a communication lockdown.