In a startling revelation, former RAW chief A.S. Dulat claims in his new book The Chief Minister and the Spy that National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah privately supported the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019—despite his public opposition. When Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Abdullah called it a “betrayal,” but in a private conversation with Dulat, he reportedly expressed frustration at being left out of the process. “We would have helped. Why were we not taken into confidence?” he asked, according to Dulat.
Dulat recounts that just days before Article 370 was revoked, Farooq and his son Omar Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “What transpired… nobody will ever know,” he writes in his book. Following the abrogation, Farooq was placed under detention for seven months. During that time, Delhi allegedly tested the waters of his political stance, hoping he would accept the “new reality,” Dulat reveals.
The book paints Farooq Abdullah as a larger-than-life figure—one caught between politics and personal ambitions, betrayals, and complicated relationships. Dulat highlights a lifelong bitterness from Indira Gandhi’s 1984 dismissal of Abdullah’s government, an act Farooq reportedly saw as a personal betrayal.
Abdullah was the one who extended hands to traditional opponents like PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and formed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), with the aim of raising voice against the Centre’s “unilateral” move and demanding the revival of Article 370 and statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which was provisionally converted to a Union Territory with an assurance of restoring its statehood at a suitable time.
Dulat also writes about the unique bond between Omar Abdullah and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vajpayee, he claims, tried to promote Omar as the future face of Kashmir, appointing him junior foreign minister and frequently including him in diplomatic visits. Farooq, meanwhile, was promised a nomination for the Vice Presidency—a move he saw as a steppingstone to the Presidency. “It was a bait,” Dulat admits. The nomination never materialized—yet another perceived betrayal.
Farooq Abdullah has not commented on the claims made in the book.
