A Facebook post that claims Omar Abdullah has threatened to end ‘Amarnath Yatra’ if the Government of India repeals Article 35A is being shared by many users. In the post, it is also claimed that U.P. state Chief Minister Adityanath has purportedly countered Abdullah’s statements by threatening that he would end ‘Haj Yatra’ if anything happens even to a single Amarnath Yatra pilgrim. Let’s try to verify the authenticity of the claims made in the post.
Claim: Omar Abdullah has threatened to end ‘Amarnath Yatra’ if the Government of India repeals Article 35A.
Fact: Omar Abdullah hasn’t made any such comments. Information from no credible source was found to authenticate the claim. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When googled to check if Jammu & Kashmir’s National Conference Party leader Omar Abdullah has made such comments, no results were found. If he had really made such statements, owing to their sensitivity, they would have been reported by all the major newspapers and channels in India. Article 35A empowers the Jammu & Kashmir state’s legislature to define who the “permanent residents” of the state are, and grant those residents special rights and privileges — especially with respect to employment, acquisition of property and the right to scholarships and other forms of government aid. Omar Abdullah on various occasions had defended the continuation of the existing Article 35A in Jammu & Kashmir but has never threatened to end ‘Amarnath Yatra’ if the Government of India repeals it. So, those statements posted on Facebook have no relevance to Omar Abdullah.
When ‘SM Hoax slayer’ fact-checker has approached Omar Abdullah in this regard, he has told them – “Never said it. It’s a total lie. Show me a clip of me saying anything like what I’m being accused of saying.”
Omar Abdullah has also tweeted that he hadn’t threatened any such thing.
No he did not threaten any such thing. https://t.co/CGG9wgo9Wv
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 22, 2018
During the verification process, it was found that such comments attributed to Omar Abdullah are doing the rounds on social media since 2017.
To sum it up, Omar Abdullah hasn’t threatened to end ‘Amarnath Yatra’ if the Government of India repeals Article 35A.
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