Journalism of Courage
Responding to a tweet that alleged that there could be a backdoor understanding between the National Conference (NC) and the BJP, NC Vice President Omar Abdullah said that while he may have “political opponents”, he did not have to “hate them” at a personal level.
A Twitter user had posted a short snippet of a longer interview with Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, captioning it: “Fresh from the President of Jammu and Kashmir @BJP4India Ravinder Raina. Bahut yaarana lagta hai (They look like friends)!”
In the clip, Raina says, “I became an MLA when Omar was also there. I saw that as an individual, as a person, Omar Abdullah is a gem among the top political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir… so we are friends as well,” adding that Abdullah was the first person to call him when he got the coronavirus.
When asked if both the parties would come together, Raina stressed that it was an “individual” and “personal” relationship.
Abdullah responded to the tweet and asked why politics was “all about division and hatred?”. He added: “Where does it say that to disagree politically we also have to hate each other personally? I have political opponents, I don’t have enemies. I’m grateful for Ravinder’s kind words and I’m glad they won’t stop us opposing each other.”
(With inputs from PTI)
