NC president asks spokesperson to toe party line on all issues

The ruling National Conference President and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday asked his party spokesman Dr Mustaffa Kamal "to exercise restraint and follow the party policy line on all issues, particularly those pertaining to the policies of the coalition government, relationship with the Congress party, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the role of the army".

Dr Abdullah's statement came in the wake of anti-Congress and anti-army statements made by Dr Mustaffa Kamal leading to a virtual war of words between the two coalition partners in the state.

Dr Abdullah said, "certain statements made by Dr Mustafa Kamaal on the above issues in the past few days are regrettable and are not endorsed by me and do not reflect our party's policy."

He said that the National Conference is "committed to running the coalition smoothly".

He further said that he has "the highest regards for the Congress leadership particularly the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh".

Dr Abdullah said that "NC values their support to the coalition government in the state".

He said that the coalition government was doing a commendable job for the welfare of the people by working for normalcy and accelerating the developmental activities in the state. He also added that the Congress had given great support for which the National Conference is grateful.

"Revocation of AFSPA is an issue relating to security and normalcy, there is a political and an emotional dimension to it as well which cannot be overlooked and has to be considered," said Dr Abdullah.

The president of the National Conference said that the army was playing a major role in counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the security of the country, and the chief minister was on record having appreciated their role in this regard.

Dr Abdullah also said that the coalition government's resolve to remove the AFSPA from certain parts of the state was no reflection or commentary on the role of the army and the two should not be confused with each other.

In a statement issued in Srinagar on Thursday, he said the National Conference–Congress coalition was doing a good work and it should be the endeavour of all in the NC and the Congress to strengthen the coalition for the welfare of the people of the state.