Farooq Abdullah's remark on 'neighbour' sets off political row in India

Farooq Abdullah, the former chief minister of Indian-administered Kashmir and head of the National Conference, has drawn criticism from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and from Congress leaders after telling a party gathering that "our neighbour is protecting us", a remark his opponents read as a reference to Pakistan.

According to BBC Urdu, Abdullah was addressing a National Conference event in Baramulla district on Saturday. He did not name Pakistan in the speech, in which he referred to the scrapping of Article 370 and to delimitation, and accused the BJP of discriminating against Muslims.

"What can you expect from Delhi? Will they deliver justice? Have the courage to confront them. If you don't, you will be wiped out, your name and trace will vanish. They are silent today because there is noise in the world and our neighbour is after them. They go everywhere and say the Kashmir decision has not been made. They are protecting us," he said, according to the BBC Urdu account.

He also said he had never claimed not to be Indian, and that he had joined the India of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad. UrduPoint reported that Abdullah said Pakistan had kept the Kashmir issue alive and had raised the voice of Kashmiris at the international level.

BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur called the remarks "anti-India" and "an open rebellion", saying they were against the country's unity and integrity and that action should be taken against Abdullah. Party spokesperson R.P. Singh asked what Pakistan had given to that part of Kashmir, listing "terrorism, separatism and stone-pelting", and said investment and tourist numbers had risen in the region since the BJP came to power at the centre. Ravinder Raina, another BJP figure, called the statement irresponsible and accused Abdullah of committing "sedition" again.

Congress MP Imran Masood, who represents Saharanpur, said Pakistan "cannot protect itself" and there was nothing to hope for from it, adding that he did not understand why the statement was made. Congress leader Udit Raj said he had never heard such words from Abdullah before, and asked how many Kashmiris in Pakistan-administered Kashmir were content.

Samajwadi Party MP Mohibullah Nadvi said Kashmir and the Kashmiris belonged to India and blamed unrest in the region on Pakistan's "intervention and wrong policies".

Muslim religious leaders also condemned the remarks. Deobandi scholar Qari Ishaq Gora said Abdullah should apologise "to the people of India". Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, an executive member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said Indian security forces had always secured the region and that it was unacceptable to claim another country was protecting Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan's stated position, noted by BBC Urdu, is that Kashmir is a disputed territory whose final settlement should follow UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people, and Islamabad denies interfering in Indian-administered Kashmir. The Pakistani government has separately described protests in Azad Kashmir as "mischief" and has placed the Joint Action Committee that led them on its list of banned organisations.