Omar Abdullah concerned about frequent incidents of Pak flag waving

New Delhi: Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has attacked the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir expressing concern over the "regularity" with which Pakistani flag was being waved at separatist rallies and the "few nasty scraps" between the two parties which does not augur well.

He describes the over two-month-old alliance between the two parties as "extremely uneasy" and says the gap between PDP and BJP on political positions will become "more glaring".

"No, I don't think that things are as bad as that. We learnt some costly but very valuable lessons in 2010... Therefore, I don't perceive a summer of discomfort but it's not a comfortable situation where you have this sort of regularity with which Pakistani flags are being displayed," Omar told PTI here.

"When these flags are waved, you end up with statements where BJP starts targeting the PDP and then the Chief Minister has to react and it is seen to have to react on the directions of the central government or the BJP....So this sort of regular display of Pakistani flags is troubling the state government and making difficult the life of the coalition and the understanding between the BJP and the PDP," he said.

The former Chief Minister said such a situation had obtained in the state because the Sayeed government had "exposed its weak flanks".

He also took a dig at the government over its stand on separatist leadership.

Omar disagreed with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's description of the PDP-BJP alliance as an infliction of the verdict of the Assembly polls and said "it was stretching a bit further".

"As far as serving the national interest is concerned, I would hold judgement on that because I am concerned with the regularity with which now Pakistani flag has started to unfurl in Srinagar," he said.

The former Chief Minister said Jaitley has to justify this coalition because it is just less than three months old and he cannot attack it. The PDP-BJP coalition was one of the four possibilities, he added.

Omar said he was not claiming that waving of Pakistani flag did not happen during his government but "the frequency with which it is happening now is something that we should not ignore".

Referring to the situation on ground, Omar said according

to his information there has been a spate of fresh recruitment of youngsters from South Kashmir into militant outfits operating out of Kashmir.

"That again is something to be worried about. The amount of space available to the separatists.. I remember that PDP was the party that was extremely critical of me because some of the measures I had to take particularly on Friday's to maintain peace.

"Yet it is the same PDP that seems to be happy to replicate that every Friday with Mufti Sayeed as Chief Minister," he said.

He said people understood that there will be no progress on issues like withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), dialogue with separatists or Pakistan.

"You have promised us but we are realistic enough to know that nothing will happen on that but at least on the developmental front, at least on the flood relief front, lets see some progress there. But that hasn't happened," he said.

Asked whether the coalition would complete its full term, he said he does not know but he would like them to continue as long as they could as he was not in a hurry to go back to elections as of now.

"We had alliances in the state in past but the gap in the political positions between NC and the Congress and PDP and the Congress is much less than the gap between PDP and the BJP and at some point these things will become more glaring.

"Right now it is only two and a half months into coalition and, therefore, they are careful not to rub each other the wrong way but even in two and half months you had a few nasty scraps between the two parties.

"It doesn't augur well for the full six years but as I said I will be disappointed that if we have an early elections in the state," he said.

To a question he does not regret not having an alliance between National Conference and BJP. "No I don't regret. At informal level, some amount of discussion always takes place between political parties.

"Its no secret that given a choice, the BJP would have tied with NC but as I said that the gaps between our ideology and there's was so much that it did not allow for any sort of comfort zone to be built up between the two parties.

He said after having been in the government for full six years, his party had "absolutely no reason" to form a coalition government in the state of this nature. "We were quite happy to sit out," he added.