Omar Abdullah faces flak for sharing post linking Engineer Rashid’s Lok Sabha polls win to secession

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah faced backlash for sharing an article which suggested that Engineer Abdul Rashid’s victory from Baramulla “will empower secessionists”.

On Thursday, Abdullah shared a quote on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) from an article published in an online portal with the premise that Rashid’s win “will empower secessionists, and give Kashmir’s defeated Islamist movement a renewed sense of hope”.

Social media users reacted harshly for sharing the quote with one calling Omar a ‘sore loser’.

Even some people on the ground in Baramulla who voted for Omar Abdullah took exception to his stance.

“I am regretting why I wasted my vote on him. It was better not to vote at all. He should have accepted his defeat with grace than sharing an article which is nothing but ‘dog whistling’,” said a Baramulla resident whose family had voted for Abdullah.

Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed Para called it a regressive stance, echoing the divisive politics of 1987, and dubbing a democratic expression as an ‘Islamist wave’. “Omar Abdullah’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, and will put Kashmir into perpetual conflict with state. A more prudent approach, akin to Mehbooba Mufti’s plea for Er Rashid’s release, would have been acknowledgment of mandate,” Para wrote on social networking site ‘X’.

Meanwhile, Omar in his response said, “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,” Omar said.

Para responded: “While we endorse your plea for the release of all political prisoners, we must at least find consensus on the return of one such prisoner, Er Rashid, who was also your assembly colleague. Your definition holds weight, Sir, and if a mandate is misconstrued as militancy, it will inevitably sow confusion and backlash against us all.”

Democratic Progressive Azad Party’s (DPAP) chief spokesperson Salman Nizami also criticised Omar Abdullah. “Omar is frustrated because he lost by more than 2 lakh votes. People have rejected him... Boycotts used to help NC, so now they are frustrated that people came out in large numbers and voted for Er Rashid. Kashmiris believe in humanity, and they have proved it,” he said in a statement.

Abdullah had lost to independent candidate Engineer Abdul Rashid, who is in Tihar Jail under UAPA charges, by 2.4 lakh votes.