Farooq Abdullah's Pakistan remark: BJP protests in Jammu, a police complaint, Congress distances itself, NC defends the speech

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah told a party workers' convention in Baramulla, north Kashmir, on Saturday, October 24, that Pakistan's raising of the Kashmir issue at international forums was "saving" Kashmiris and that the Centre's intentions were "not good", The Indian Express and The New Indian Express report. BJP leaders and several organisations have demanded an apology, with some seeking an FIR or his arrest; protests were held in Jammu on Monday; two Kashmiri Pandit groups have filed a police complaint seeking an FIR; the J&K Congress, the NC's ally, distanced itself from the remark; and on Monday the NC said the speech was not seditious and had been quoted out of context. None of the reports read for this piece says a police case has been registered. This piece sets out who said what and where the reports differ.

This piece is as of 15:40 IST on Tuesday, October 27, and the row is still moving.

What Abdullah said

The lines at the centre of the row, as The New Indian Express and The Indian Express quote him: "What hope will you (people of J-K) have from them (Delhi)? Will you expect that they will do justice for you?" and, urging people to be courageous, "If you don't keep it, you will be erased. Even our trace and identity will disappear. Nothing will be left. They are silent today because there is noise in the world, and our neighbour is constantly behind this. Everywhere they say, 'the decision regarding Kashmir has not been made'. That is what is saving us. Otherwise, their intentions are not good."

In the same speech, The New Indian Express reports, he said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had never denied being Indian, that they had acceded to "the India of Mahatma Gandhi, the India of Jawaharlal Nehru, the India of (Maulana Abul Kalam) Azad", and that he had never imagined Hindus and Muslims being pitted against each other "for power". India Today reports that he also urged Muslims across the country to unite against demolition drives in BJP-ruled states and accused some media organisations of acting as "paid mouthpieces" of those in power; the BJP and the governments it runs maintain that demolitions target illegal construction irrespective of religion, the same report notes. Mathrubhumi reports that he also criticised the Lieutenant Governor's administration and the Centre's delay in restoring statehood.

BJP leaders and allied groups

• Sat Sharma, the BJP's Jammu and Kashmir president, demanded a public apology and said, "Had you made these remarks in Pakistan, you might not have been spared", adding that "Pakistan would be a better place for him", Hindustan Times reports. On Monday in Jammu, Dainik Jagran reports (translated from Hindi), he said Abdullah should apologise to the country's 140 crore people and, if he did not, should think of living in Pakistan.
• Altaf Thakur, the BJP's J&K spokesperson, demanded that a case be registered, and the party described the remarks as "seditious and anti-national", The Indian Express reports. He repeated the demand and the call to apologise in Srinagar on Monday, when the BJP marked Accession Day, WION reports.
• Ravinder Raina, a former J&K BJP president, called the remarks "highly condemnable and unfortunate" and accused Abdullah of an "act of treason", Odisha Bytes reports. Shakti Raj Parihar, a BJP leader, demanded an FIR on sedition charges and Abdullah's arrest, The Economic Times reports.
• Ranbir Singh Pathania, a BJP MLA, asked the Congress and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to say whether they endorse the remark and said any credible allegation of a violation of law should be examined by the competent authorities, Greater Kashmir reports.
• Beyond J&K: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said people in Pakistan are struggling for basic food and that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir residents want to join India, Republic World reports; Haryana minister Anil Vij said Abdullah "loves Pakistan more than India", and the Shiv Sena's Shaina NC called the remarks "seditious and anti-national", The Free Press Journal reports, carrying ANI. Former Union minister Arjun Munda called the remark "unfortunate and condemnable" with the qualification "if this is true", Hindustan Times reports.
• Organisations: the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Dogra Front and National Anti-Terrorism Front marched in Jammu on Monday and burned effigies of Abdullah, The Economic Times reports. Dainik Jagran reports a separate protest by the Shiv Sena Hindustan at Bishnah. The Jammu State Movement asked the Prime Minister and the Home Minister for a fair, independent, time-bound inquiry and asked authorities to examine possible action under the National Security Act "if the statutory requirements were met", The Economic Times reports. Vivek Bali, J&K president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, asked for an inquiry and action only if the law was found to be violated, the same report says.

Others who criticised the remark

• Ghulam Nabi Azad, a former J&K chief minister, said he respected Abdullah but that the statement was "completely incorrect", adding that Pakistan is "an enemy of India and the people of J&K", India Today reports.
• Imran Ansari, a Shia leader and former minister, urged Kashmiris not to emulate Abdullah and called the NC's dissent a "rented rebellion", India Today reports.
• Clerics: Maulana Sajid Rashidi, president of the All India Imam Association, said the statement "falls under treason", and Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali sought an explanation and an apology, Telangana Today reports, carrying IANS.

The Congress and other parties

The J&K Pradesh Congress Committee distanced itself from the statement and said Pakistan "has no right to talk about or interfere in our internal affairs", its chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said in a post on X. Speaking to reporters, Sharma also said the remarks appeared to express frustration over the Centre's failure to restore statehood and to be directed at what he called discrimination against minorities, and that Abdullah should clarify his intent, The Times of India and ThePrint report. CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby blamed what he called the "utterly negative and undemocratic attitude" of the Modi government for the situation in the Union Territory, Asianet Newsable reports.

What the National Conference says

On Monday, NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said Abdullah's speech "is not seditious", that "a small part of his speech was picked out to play politics across the country", and that in the full speech he spoke about the 1947 raiders, Pakistan's atrocities in Kashmir and the NC's fight against them, The Times of India reports. He added that "we do not need a certificate of nationalism from BJP", the same report says. On Tuesday Abdullah spoke to reporters at the NC headquarters in Srinagar about the expansion of Omar Abdullah's council of ministers, Greater Kashmir reports; that report does not record him addressing the row. O Heraldo noted on October 24 that Omar Abdullah had not publicly responded; none of the reports read since records a response from him.

The police complaint

Panun Kashmir (chairman Tito Ganju) and the Jammu State People's Movement (chairman Col Ajay Raina, retd) lodged a complaint at the Channi police station in Jammu seeking registration of an FIR against Abdullah under sections 152, 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and any other offences an investigation may disclose, ThePrint reports, carrying PTI. A Panun Kashmir spokesperson said those sections concern acts endangering India's sovereignty, unity and integrity, promoting enmity between groups, and certain statements prejudicial to national integration. The complainants asked the police to examine the statements in their entirety, taking into account context and audience, the same report says.

Where the reports differ

• Whether an FIR exists. PTI's account (via ThePrint) and The Times of India say the groups filed a complaint seeking registration of an FIR. The Economic Times says the groups "have lodged an FIR", and Dainik Jagran says they had an FIR filed through a criminal complaint. None of the reports read says the police have registered a case.
• What "neighbour" refers to. ABP Live says Abdullah did not name Pakistan directly; Odisha Bytes and India Today insert "(Pakistan)" or "(Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif)" in brackets inside his quotation, and the BJP and Congress responses treat the remark as about Pakistan. The bracketed words are the outlets' own glosses.
• The service-bond figure. On a separate point in the speech, a pending requirement that medical graduates serve two years in the Union Territory's hospitals or pay a penalty, ABP Live gives the penalty as Rs 40 lakh and The Free Press Journal as Rs 50 lakh.
• Who reached the full speech. None of the reports read carries the whole speech. The NC's account of what the rest of it said, and the BJP's account of what the quoted lines mean, are each the account of a party to the row.

What is not established

No report read says whether Abdullah has clarified or retracted the remark, whether any police case has been registered, or whether any authority has examined the speech. Whether the words meet any legal definition of sedition is a claim the BJP and some other critics make and the NC rejects; none of the reports read tests it.