Ex-RAW chief's revelations nothing new: Mehbooba on Abdullah's 'support' for Art 370 abrogation
Srinagar (PTI): Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said she was not surprised by the revelations made by ex-RAW chief A S Dulat in his latest book about National Conference president Farooq Abdullah "privately' supporting the abrogation of Article 370.
"Dulat's revelations are nothing new for me. This father-son duo (Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah) went to meet them (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) on August 3 (2019). Farooq Sahib did not even go to Parliament (on August 5, 2019). He stayed back. So there is nothing surprising for me," Mufti said while addressing a PDP workers' convention here.
Article 370 granting special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated by the Centre on August 5, 2019.
Mufti also claimed that in 2014, Omar Abdullah met Amit Shah for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
"He told Shah not to form a government with the PDP but to go with the National Conference and that too unconditionally," she alleged.
Dulat's book, titled "The Chief Minister and the Spy", is slated to be released on April 18.
Mufti also claimed that one of the cornerstones of PDP's alliance with the BJP from 2015 to 2018 was that Article 370 will not be touched.
"In those two years and 10 months, Article 370 remained untouched," she said.
The PDP chief also spoke about the Waqf (Amendment) Act and "attacks" on mosques and shrines, saying graves were being dug up on the pretext that these were remnants of the Mughal empire.
"The signs of the Mughal empire are Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Fatehpur Sikri, which are flocked by millions of tourists every year.
"If you are looking for descendants of Mughals, they are not among us Muslims. They are somewhere around you... Because Mughals were kings and they did not marry into ordinary Muslim households but into princely states whose descendants are sitting around you," Mufti said.
Stating that the prime minister talks about the upliftment of Pasmanda Muslims, Mufti said, "I want to ask Modiji, is breaking down a madrassa in Madhya Pradesh or a 100-year-old mosque in Uttar Pradesh upliftment of Muslims?"
She also said that Muslims in the country should fight against the Waqf amendments peacefully.
"I request my fellow Muslims in India to fight against it (Waqf law) peacefully... What happened in Murshidabad was not good," she said.
On the perception that Muslims are being targeted in India, Mufti said they should not be treated in the same way as the terrorists treated Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
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IMF approves USD 206 million emergency funding for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka's recovery
Colombo (PTI): The IMF has approved an emergency funding of USD 206 million under its rapid finance instrument to help Sri Lanka “address the urgent needs arising from the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah and preserve macroeconomic stability”.
The cyclone caused widespread destruction in the island nation and left over 643 people dead.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the disaster has created urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs, generating significant fiscal pressures and balance-of-payments needs.
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The emergency financial support provided by the IMF under the rapid finance instrument will help address these pressures, it said.
The IMF added that the cyclone devastation hit when the Fifth Review of Sri Lanka’s USD 2.9 billion bailout was nearing completion.
“Given the time needed to assess the economic impact of the cyclone and examine how an IMF-supported programme can best support Sri Lanka’s recovery and reconstruction efforts while preserving objectives and policy priorities, the Fifth Review has been deferred," it said.
"An IMF mission team will visit Sri Lanka in early 2026 to resume discussions,” it added.
The 48-month extended fund facility deal with the IMF in March 2023 carried hard reforms to Sri Lanka's welfare-based governance.
It was signed after Sri Lanka plunged into an unprecedented economic meltdown with its first-ever sovereign default.
Several hours before the IMF decision, the parliament here approved without a vote a supplementary estimate of LKR 500 billion, which the government said was required to restore the livelihoods of those affected by the disaster.
