Farooq Abdullah backs Omar's remarks on Afzal Guru

New Delhi: Backing his son and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah today said his remarks on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who is on death row, was not provocative and that he was telling the “truth”. Farooq replied in the negative when asked about criticism against Omar that his twitter remark on Guru was provocative and as a chief minister he should not have said so. [caption id=“attachment_75399” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Union Minister said that Omar “very frankly” spoke on the issue. Reuters”]  [/caption] “No. He is a young chief minister and I think, he should continue to do this…what he feels inside. ….you should speak what is inside rather than hiding what is inside,” the senior Abdullah said. “That is what India needs. India needs truth. The fight is between truth and untruth. You should have the courage to speak truth,” he added. He was responding to questions on Omar’s tweet that if his state Assembly passed a resolution seeking mercy for Guru on the lines of Tamil Nadu Assembly asking for clemency for the three death row convicts in connection with Rajiv Gandhi’s killing, it would also generate a “muted” reaction. The Union Minister said that Omar “very frankly” spoke on the issue. Farooq reiterated that had the J&K Assembly passed a similar resolution on Afzal Guru, “the uproar by these people would have been far greater rather than what happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly or what Badalji (Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal) has written (on Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist)”. “But had it been Afzal Guru, they would have created a rampage,” he said. “Well my son can say, what he likes. I have my opinion, he has his opinion. He is self Chief Minister of the state and I am minister at the Centre. We have no difficulties for working for the betterment of the country and its people,” the senior Abdullah said. PTI