‘Forget PaK, raise Indian flag in Kashmir’s Lal Chowk first’, Farooq tells Centre

Srinagar: National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah waded into yet another controversy on Monday after daring the Indian government to raise the flag in Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar first.
Abdullah, who earlier this month had come under fire for his ‘PaK belongs to Pakistan’ comment, continued with his rant on Pakistan-Administered- Kashmir (PaK) and scoffed at the idea of India raising the national flag in the region.
Instead, he said, the India government should try to raise the flag in Lal Chawk in Srinagar first, before attempting the feat in PaK.
Taking jibe at the Centre, the former three time Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister said, “They are talking of raising flag at PaK. I ask them, first you go and raise the tricolour at Lal Chawk in Srinagar. They can’t even do that here and they are talking about PaK.”
In the recent weeks, Abdullah has made several controversial references to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, reiterating that a part of Kashmir belonged to Pakistan.
Earlier this month, he taunted the Centre for failing to ‘take back PaK’ for the past 70 years, and added that PaK belonged to Pakistan.
Prior to that, Abdullah had stated that Indian government should hold talks with its Pakistan counterpart as “a part of Kashmir is also with them.”
His statements have sparked off a row in the past with Delhi-based Maulana Ansar Raza filing a petition in the Delhi High Court against Abdullah seeking “immediate investigation” and “arrest” of the Srinagar MP alleging that he has favoured Pakistan and insulted India. However, the bench disposed of Raza’s plea, saying it was not expressing any opinion on the petition and asked the Centre to take an independent view on the matter.
This is not the first time Abdullah has made such a controversial statement. Hours after the Centre had appointed Dineshwar Sharma to hold talks with all stakeholders to resolve the Kashmir issue, Abdullah had suggested that the interlocutor should hold talks with Pakistan as well.