Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief A.S. Dulat has categorically rejected media reports suggesting that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had privately supported the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, calling such claims “absolute nonsense.”

Speaking at the launch of his latest book The Chief Minister and the Spy in New Delhi on Friday (April 18), Dulat responded to the controversy stirred by reports alleging Abdullah would have backed the BJP-led Centre’s move had he been taken into confidence, PTI reported.

“There was not a single Kashmiri who spoke in favour of the abrogation,” Dulat said, while recalling senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s remarks describing the move as a “monumental blunder.”

Dulat recounted a meeting with Abdullah after the National Conference leader’s release from detention in February 2020.

“I could barely speak to him, but what he said was that despite supporting India and always siding with the idea of India, why lock his family up? If they had to do this (arrest), why did they not take them (Abdullahs) into confidence?” he said.

According to Dulat, Abdullah’s primary concern lay with the arrests that followed the constitutional change, not the move itself.

The former intelligence chief also addressed a media article that he claimed misrepresented portions of his book, leading to unwarranted controversy.

“I decided to sleep over it and hoped that everyone would form an opinion after reading the entire book,” he said.