Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah has reacted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's 'POK will be merged with India' remark and said that Pakistan would not watch quietly. He also said the neighbouring country had "atom bombs that would fall on us".
On Sunday, Rajnath Singh told news agency PTI in an interview that there was no need for India to capture POK as its people, on their own, would want to be part of India.
Asked to comment on Rajnath Singh's remark, Farooq Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar on Sunday, "If the defence minister is saying it, then go ahead. Who are we to stop? But remember, they (Pakistan) are also not wearing bangles. It has atom bombs, and unfortunately, that atom bomb will fall on us."
His remarks triggered an uproar with the BJP and its allies saying the NC leader was speaking in Pakistan's language.
BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said INDIA bloc leaders had "an impression of Pakistan" on them.
"Till now, some extremist leaders of Pakistan said they have an atom bomb. But now, a senior and forefront leader of the INDIA bloc, Farooq Abdullah, has said the same. Former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhary said that BJP and (PM Narendra) Modi should go. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar gave moral cover fire to Pakistan on 26/11," he said.
"Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's statement on Poonch tries to hide Pakistan's misdeeds. This is Pakistan's language. As PM Modi said the INDIA bloc manifesto had an impression of the Muslim League and their leaders have an impression of Pakistan on them," he added.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), an ally of BJP-led NDA, condemned Farooq Abdullah's comments and called them shameful.
"I am ashamed that such statements are given by people living in the country. When he (Farooq Abdullah) and his son (Omar Abdullah) gave interviews when Article 370 was still implemented, they sounded like Pakistanis. They should be ashamed. Such people have no right to live in the country," RLD national general secretary Malook Nagar told news agency ANI.
During the interview with PTI, Rajnath Singh said, "I think India will not have to do anything. The way the ground situation has changed in Jammu and Kashmir, the way the region is witnessing economic progress and the way peace has returned there, I think demands will emerge from the people of POK that they should merge with India."
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that POK "has never been out" of India and that people were "made to forget about it".
Responding to a question on India's plans for PoK during an event in Odisha's Cuttack, he said on Sunday, "POK has never been out of this country. It is part of this country. There is a resolution of the Indian Parliament that POK is very much a part of India."
