Uncle Kamaal ‘Corrects’ Omar, Rules Out Fresh Tie-Up With Congress

“Wounds Inflicted On Us By Congress Are Still Raw”

SRINAGAR – Senior NC leader Dr. Mustafa Kamaal on Wednesday said that there was “no possibility” of his party tying up with the Congress in the next assembly polls, claiming that chief minister Omar Abdullah’s remarks to the effect had been a “slip of the tongue.”  

“The chief minister realised his mistake soon afterwards,” Dr. Kamaal told the KMN at Fateha Khwani at the gravesite of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah on the NC founder’s birth anniversary. 

“It was a slip of the tongue. He has not issued any statements over a fresh tie-up with the Congress since,” he said. 

“The state Congress has no scruples. It is an unpopular party. And I feel – it is a general perception also – that the state Congress has no existence in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. 

“It has always used others to show its presence. The National Conference has an extremely bitter experience with the Congress. The wounds it has inflicted on us are still raw,” he said. 

“In 1960, it was Muhammad Shafi Qureshi who flew the Congress flag on a tonga, and for this he was made governor of two states,” he said. “And who does not know Khaliq-made legislators in the 1972 elections.” 

“In 1977, the state Congress won just 6 seats, showing this party has no popularity in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. 

“There are no plans to form an alliance with the Congress in the future. Even if such a possibility arises, the NC leadership will first review the political scenario, and take into account the domestic and the Pakistan situation,” he said. 

“A decision can be taken only after comprehensive consultations,” he said. 

“The NC has always been targeted by the Congress and the PDP, and conspiracies have always been hatched to weaken the party,” he said. 

“The PDP is a creation of the BJP and agencies. It had joined the state Congress just to topple the NC,” he said. 

When reminded that his party leadership had admonished him not to issue statements (with regard to the Congress), Dr Kamaal said: “My statements are always based on truth. Dr. Farooq Abdullah and the chief minister have to issue such diktats because they are in the government.” 

“The party leadership has never instructed to hold my tongue, because democracy gives everyone the right to express his or her opinion,” he said. “Speaking the truth is not a sin in democracy.” 

Replying to another question, Dr. Kamaal described his brother Dr. Abdullah and nephew Omar Abdullah as “mature” politicians. 

“Omar Abdullah may lack experience, but he too will acquire a swift and acute grasp of the political scenario like his father and grandfather, and emerge as an excellent politician,” he said. 

Dr. Abdullah paid tribute to his father and NC founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and said that he had laid the foundations of democracy in the state and wanted true awami raaj. 

“The NC has nurtured democracy in Jammu and Kashmir, and renounced power in the interest of the masses, and performed outstanding feats when in office,” he said. 

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