'Balakot! Balakot!': Farooq Abdullah slams strike on Pak; asks 'did we get back any land?'

National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday accusing them of raking up the Balakot airstrikes to win votes ahead of the UP Elections 2022. Talking to reporters in Jammu, Farooq Abdullah questioned the merits of the Balakot airstrikes in 2019, claiming that BJP was once again spreading 'hatred' to win elections.

Abdullah said, "Balakot! Balakot! Did line (LoC) change? Did we get back any piece of land from Pakistan? The line is still there. We dropped our own aircraft there. What did we get? BJP came to power. They're doing it today too. They're spreading hatred to win UP."

On February 26, 2019, a squadron of the IAF had crossed over to Pakistan and destroyed the largest JeM terrorist training camp in Balakot, located within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to avenge the Pulwama terror attack. After the airstrikes, images of which were accessed by Republic TV, the Opposition in India had questioned the 'timing' of the move, which had taken place in the lead up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Even as the matter was politicised, the BJP returned to power with a thumping majority. Months later, Imran Khan conceded that India had in fact, carried out the Balakot airstrike on Pakistani soil and feared that it was 'hatching a bigger plan' against the country.

'They don't know real meaning of Ram Rajya': Abdullah

Speaking about the targeted killings in J&K, Farooq Abdullah, who has been calling for talks with Pakistan, asked the BJP to respond to its claims of restoring peace in the UT. He also raked up BJP's promise of a 'Ram Rajya' saying that the true meaning of the term meant that no discrimination existed between Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs or Christians. 

"They used to say after the abrogation of Article 370, they have restored peace in J&K, Where is the promised peace and development? Give answers to the people," said Abdullah. He added, "They are talking about 'Ram Rajya' but the fact is that they do not know anything about it. In 'Ram Rajya', there is no discrimination and all the people whether Muslims, Hindus, Sikh or Christians are treated equally."

(With Agency Inputs)