New Delhi:
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah backed his son Omar Abdullah, on his remarks on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The senior Abdullah, said his son's remarks on Afzal Guru who is on death row, was not provocative and that he was telling the "truth."
Asked about criticism against Omar that his twitter remark on Guru was provocative and as a Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir he should not have made them, Farooq replied in the negative. "No. He is a young chief minister and I think, he should continue to do this ... what he feels inside. You should speak what is inside rather than hiding what is inside," the senior Abdullah said,
"That is what India needs. India needs truth. The fight is between truth and untruth. You should have the courage to speak the truth," he added.
The senior Abdullah was responding to questions on Omar's tweet that if his state Assembly passed a resolution seeking mercy for Guru on the lines of Tamil Nadu Assembly asking for clemency for the three death row convicts in connection with Rajiv Gandhi's killing, it would also generate a "muted" reaction.
The Union Minister said that Omar spoke "very frankly" on the issue.
Farooq differed from Omar saying that had the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a similar resolution on Afzal Guru, "the uproar by the people would have been far greater rather than what happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly or what Badalji (Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal) has written (on Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist).'' He added, "Had it been Afzal Guru, they (the people) would have created a rampage," he said.
Asked about the difference of opinion between his sons and himself, the senior Abdullah said. ''Well my son can say, what he likes. I have my opinion, he has his opinion. He is the Chief Minister of the state and I am minister at the Centre. We have no difficulties for working for the betterment of the country and its people.''
Asked about criticism against Omar that his twitter remark on Guru was provocative and as a Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir he should not have made them, Farooq replied in the negative. "No. He is a young chief minister and I think, he should continue to do this ... what he feels inside. You should speak what is inside rather than hiding what is inside," the senior Abdullah said,
"That is what India needs. India needs truth. The fight is between truth and untruth. You should have the courage to speak the truth," he added.
The senior Abdullah was responding to questions on Omar's tweet that if his state Assembly passed a resolution seeking mercy for Guru on the lines of Tamil Nadu Assembly asking for clemency for the three death row convicts in connection with Rajiv Gandhi's killing, it would also generate a "muted" reaction.
The Union Minister said that Omar spoke "very frankly" on the issue.
Farooq differed from Omar saying that had the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a similar resolution on Afzal Guru, "the uproar by the people would have been far greater rather than what happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly or what Badalji (Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal) has written (on Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist).'' He added, "Had it been Afzal Guru, they (the people) would have created a rampage," he said.
Asked about the difference of opinion between his sons and himself, the senior Abdullah said. ''Well my son can say, what he likes. I have my opinion, he has his opinion. He is the Chief Minister of the state and I am minister at the Centre. We have no difficulties for working for the betterment of the country and its people.''
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