Jammu: Mustafa Kamal, additional general secretary of the National Conference, which leads the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir with the Congress party, stated on Wednesday that a media report terming him "anti-national" was untrue.
In a statement, Kamal, the younger brother of Union minister Farooq Abdullah and uncle of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said: "I am pained and hurt that the media has projected me as anti-national and accused me of sedition."
He added: "My history is known to everyone, my family's legacy and my political career of several decades is testimony to my credentials and today you call Mustafa Kamal anti-national. It deeply hurts me, what I said has been blown out of context."
The NC additional general secretary, referring to a recent speech he made to party workers, said he had suggested that India and Pakistan sit together and settle differences amicably because it affects the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"I have great regard for my country India and the Indian National Congress and shall never ever work against the two, such a move would be incomprehensible," he said.
In the speech that caused the controversy, Kamal had said: "Pakistan had offered a no-war pact with India. Why does India not agree to it? If India carries on with such attitude, then I have no hesitation in saying that our (Kashmiris') biggest enemy is our own country, not Pakistan."
Kamal had said that there was no militancy anywhere in the state: "If there is one, it is being kept alive by the Army which is the biggest enemy of peace in the state," he had said.
Referring to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Kamal said it was harming civilians more than militants.
Kamal had earlier made remarks against the Congress, the coalition, the Army and AFSPA. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah had asked him to quit party posts of additional general secretary and chief spokesman in October 2011.
Farooq Abdullah said he had to take this "difficult decision" because Mustafa Kamal had been making statements which were not in tandem with the policies of the National Conference, that were against 'coalition dharma'.
Kamal was reappointed additional general secretary of the National Conference in April 2012.
IANS
First Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 14:19