Srinagar Jan 10: In a joint statement issued today, BJP spokespersons Altaf Thakur, Manzoor Bhat, and Er. Sahil Bashir strongly countered the recent remarks made by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). The spokespersons termed the CM’s statement as a politically motivated attempt to rewrite history and mislead the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Responding to the Chief Minister’s claim that he was never in favor of the treaty, the spokespersons said, The people of J&K know the truth. The Indus Waters Treaty and the subsequent arrangements were established and sustained during the regimes of the National Conference (NC) and Congress. If the leadership of the National Conference truly believed this treaty was harmful from day one, why did they remain silent during their decades of rule? Why were no concrete steps taken to challenge or rectify these agreements when they held absolute power.
The leaders highlighted that the interests of Jammu and Kashmir, especially regarding water rights and power generation, were compromised during the tenures of Sheikh Abdullah and successive NC-led governments. It is an established fact that these decisions were taken under their watch without any vision for J&K’s long-term economic growth. Today, distancing themselves from their own party’s legacy is nothing but political convenience the statement added..