Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference (JKNC) president Farooq Abdullah was summoned by Enforcement Directorate in Srinagar on October 19. He was questioned for 7 long hours at the ED office in Rajbagh area of Srinagar. He reached the ED office around 11 am and was inside the directorate till 5 pm.
"They have their job to do, I have mine, there is nothing to be worried about, I am not worried, we have to move ahead," he told journalists outside the ED office.
"We have a long political battle. Our struggle for Article 370 will go on whether Farooq Abdullah is alive or Farooq Abdullah is dead. Our resolve has not changed and our resolve will not change even If I were to be hanged," he asserted.
Sources say that Abdullah was questioned in the case connected to the embezzlement of more than Rs 40 crore of JKCA funds during his tenure as president of the association. The CBI has already filed a charge sheet against him and the ED is probing the money laundering angle in the case.
The National Conference said in a statement, "The Enforcement Department summons to Farooq Abdullah is clearly a result of the unity that he has been able to forge among mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the price one pays when opposed to the BJP's ideology and divisive politics. Recent history is witness to how the BJP has been employing coercive and intimidating measures through various departments to target opposition leaders across the country. The recent ED summons to Farooq Abdullah is a case in point."
The statement added, "The timing of the recent summons is very clear. His previous summons were just before August 5 last year. Today's summons come within days of the formation of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, for which Farooq Abdullah has taken a lead."
Meanwhile, People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the questioning of Farooq Abdullah. "ED's sudden summons to Farooq Sahab displays the extent of GOI's nervousness about mainstream parties in J&K fighting as one unit," Mehbooba Mufti said.
"Also reeks of political vendetta & won't in the least blunt our collective resolve to fight for our rights," she added.
