Dulat's ‘The Chief Minister and the Spy’ Sparks Political Firestorm

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AS Dulat’s Claims About Farooq Abdullah on Article 370 Spark Outrage

By TRH News Desk

New Delhi, April 16, 2025: The release of ‘The Chief Minister and the Spy’, a new memoir by former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Amarjit Singh Dulat, has ignited a firestorm of controversy.

Dulat’s purported claims created sensations in Jammu and Kashmir. His revelations about National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah’s stance on the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 created the firestorm in the valley. Published by Juggernaut, the book alleges that Abdullah privately supported the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status while publicly condemning it as a “betrayal”.

The revelations have drawn sharp rebukes from the NC, Abdullah’s family, and political rivals. Faruq Abdullah told PTI that “Dulat is seeking to repair his bond with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by making such claims and also that he seeks to make a fortune by selling his book”.

Dulat, a seasoned intelligence officer with a long history in the Kashmir valley, asserts in his memoir, as quoted by HT, that Farooq Abdullah, a towering figure in Kashmiri politics, expressed private willingness to support the abrogation of Article 370, which granted Jammu and Kashmir autonomy until its revocation in August 2019.

Hindustan Times reported, “In 2019, when Delhi revoked Kashmir’s autonomy under Article 370, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference publicly condemned the move as a ‘betrayal’. But privately, he struck a different note, writes A.S. Dulat… ‘We would have helped (pass the proposal). Why were we not taken into confidence?’ he asked Dulat, according to the book.”

The book details a meeting between Abdullah, his son Omar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi days before the abrogation, with Dulat writing, “What transpired…nobody will ever know.” He further notes that during Abdullah’s seven-month detention following the revocation, Delhi probed his stance, wanting him to “accept the new reality.”

Speaking to Sanam Aijaz on phone, Dulat accused the “HT of misinterpreting his book”. “Doctor sahab (Abdullah) told me that if the Centre wanted to abrogate Article 370, he should have been taken in confidence,” Dulat told Aijaz.

He also asserted that the “HT has indulged in mischievous misinterpretation of the book”. “I have huge regards for Doctor sahab (Abdullah),” Dulat told Aijaz.

Dulat reiterated that Abdullah told him that “what was the need to bring so much of force, and if at all it had to be done, he should have been taken into confidence”.

Dulat’s broader narrative frames Kashmir’s conflicts as shaped by “fractured trust and missed chances”, quoting Abdullah as saying, “You people in Delhi think you’re playing chess, but this is a game where even the pawns have memories”. This quote, cited by Kashmir.com, underscores Dulat’s argument that political missteps, including historical betrayals like Indira Gandhi’s 1984 dismissal of Abdullah’s government, have deepened divides in the region.

Abdullah specifically refuted a claim that he sought Dulat’s advice on appointing a chief minister in 1996, calling it “completely false”, as reported by Gulistan News TV.

Abdullah’s daughter, Safia Abdullah Khan, launched a scathing attack on Dulat via X, writing, “I have never trusted Dulat as far as I could throw him. He was always a spy whose loyalty was only to himself. He never cared who he threw under the bus with his previous books.”

NC Chief Spokesperson and MLA Tanvir Sadiq dismissed the book as “baseless and fictional”, arguing that Dulat’s claims were self-contradictory. Speaking to Kashmir News Observer, Sadiq said, “If you look at the book and what he writes in it, he contradicts his own words. He writes that the Government of India waited for seven months to see Farooq Abdullah Sahib’s reaction when he was in custody. If that was the case, then why did he promote the PAGD after coming out?”

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