J&K National Conference (JKNC) Vice President and party candidate from Baramulla constituency Omar Abdullah.
Credit: PTI Photo
Srinagar: After his unexpected defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, National Conference (NC) leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah claimed on Thursday that the victory of jailed independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh could empower secessionists and revive Kashmir’s 'defeated' Islamist movement.
Omar, who lost to Rashid in Baramulla by 2,04,142 votes, cited an article by Praveen Swami in The Print on the social media platform ‘X’. The article claimed, "Rashid’s victory, without doubt, will empower secessionists and give Kashmir’s defeated Islamist movement a renewed sense of hope.”
Omar expressed concerns that efforts to reintegrate secessionism into electoral politics by supporting the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its alliance with the BJP had inadvertently empowered violent secessionists rather than mainstreaming them, highlighting the unpredictable outcomes of political manipulation.
“Efforts to draw secessionism back into electoral politics led New Delhi to support the rise of the People’s Democratic Party, and its alliance with the BJP. That, however, ended up empowering violent secessionists, not mainstreaming them—a warning of the unpredictable outcomes of trying to manipulate politics,” he posted on X.
PDP youth president Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, who lost the Srinagar seat to NC’s Syed Aga Ruhullah, sharply criticized Omar’s comments. Parra accused Omar of echoing the divisive politics of 1987 and misunderstanding democratic expressions as an "Islamist wave."
“Extremely disappointed with @OmarAbdullah’s 's regressive stance, echoing the divisive politics of 1987, and dubbing a democratic expression as an 'Islamist wave'. His family's history with the Muslim Conference clashes with calls for the exclusion of PDP, Er Rashid, and JEI (Jamaat-e-Islami), and will put Kashmir into perpetual conflict with the state. A more prudent approach, akin to @MehboobaMufti's plea for Er Rashid's release, would have been acknowledgment of mandate (sic),” he posted on X.
Responding to Parra, Omar clarified his position on X, stating that he had consistently advocated for Rashid’s release throughout his campaign.
“Waheed I don’t normally get in to any back & forth conversations here but this time I’ll make an exception. I spent my entire campaign talking about Engineer’s release & unlike his campaign I talked about the release of the 1000s detained since 2019. The articles I’ve put here are not my views but they are a point of view."
"I may agree with parts, disagree with parts but they are an opinion. As for Rashid’s release, it’s a matter for the courts as it is in all such cases. I didn’t agree with Rashid’s detention in the first place & I don’t agree with it now but that’s neither here nor there because it shouldn’t be just about one man but about the 1000s in jail, including the anonymous ones outside J&K,” he posted on X.
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