National Conference president Farooq Abdullah , who was summoned for questioning on Monday by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering probe related to a multi-crore scam in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, said the court will decide about his role and the summons “won't change our stand”.
“My fate will be decided by the court when they put the case before it. Let the ED do its job and I will do my own. I am quite clear. I will always face them,” Dr. Abdullah said, after the grilling.
He said there was “a long way to go, a long political battle ahead”.
Strident response
“The battle will continue whether Farooq Abdullah is alive or dead, on the stage or not on the stage. Our fight is for restoration of Article 370 and our resolve will never change even if I've to be hanged,” Dr. Abdullah said.
Avoiding a direct reply to a question, Dr. Abdullah said there was no need to relate the day’s questioning with the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration. “I am not worried. My only worry was that I missed my lunch today,” he said.
Also read: ED questions Farooq Abdullah in Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association ‘funds fraud’ case
Earlier, a National Conference (NC) spokesman said that after failing to politically fight party president Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the government has resorted to employing its agencies for the task.
“The Enforcement Directorate’s summons to Dr. Abdullah is clearly the result of the unity that Dr. Sahib has been able to forge among mainstream political parties in J&K. This is the price one faces when opposed to BJP’s ideology and divisive politics,” a NC spokesman said, in a statement.
Vindictive: Mehbooba
Lending support to Dr. Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, in a tweet said: “ED’s sudden summons to Farooq Sahib displays the extent of the (Government of India) GOIs nervousness about mainstream parties in J&K fighting as one unit. Also reeks of political vendetta and won’t in the least blunt our collective resolve to fight for our rights.”
Also read: People governing Delhi believe in no Constitution: Farooq
M.Y Tarigami, who is also a member of the alliance, said, “The alliance members jointly condemn it. It’s a part of vindictive politics practised by the Central government to kill dissent and disagreement across the country. The Centre is unnerved by the unity amongst the people across all the regions and communities to pursue the goals of the Gupkar Declaration and support extended to it by political parties and civil society groups.”
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, headed by Dr. Abdullah, is an amalgam of around six political parties, which have pledged to fight for restoration of J&K’s special status, abrogated by the Centre on August 5 last year.
