In BBC Spotlight, Omar Abdullah Rethinks Pakistan and 370

Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, stepped into the global spotlight this week, sitting down with the BBC’s Stephen Sackur for a tense, probing interview that aired on February 19. The exchange, part of the “Hardtalk” series, laid bare the complexities of governing a region scarred by decades of conflict—and the tightrope Abdullah walks between local aspirations and New Delhi’s grip.

The 25-minute conversation, filmed in Delhi, saw Sackur, a veteran interrogator known for his sharp-edged style, press Abdullah on two defining issues: the prospect of dialogue with Pakistan and the faded dream of restoring Article 370, the constitutional provision that once granted the region special autonomy until its revocation in 2019. What emerged was a portrait of a leader recalibrating his rhetoric under the weight of recent violence and political realities.

Abdullah, who reclaimed the chief minister’s office in October after a decade out of power, arrived with a history of advocating talks with Pakistan to ease tensions over Kashmir, a territory both nations claim. Yet, in a stark pivot from his stance last year, he dismissed any immediate scope for dialogue. “Pakistan has never stopped meddling,” he told Sackur, pointing to a surge in terror attacks—60 incidents in 2024 alone, claiming 122 lives, including 32 civilians and 26 security personnel, according to Indian government data. “It would be foolish to suggest this is purely indigenous.”

The shift stunned some observers, given Abdullah’s past calls for diplomacy—echoed as recently as 2024 by both him and his father, National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah. Sackur seized on the reversal, pressing whether this meant capitulation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hard-line stance. Abdullah bristled, denying he was a “proxy” for New Delhi, but his blunt “No, simple as that” when asked about Article 370’s return under Modi’s tenure signaled a pragmatism that has rankled his base.

That base, which propelled his party to 42 seats in last year’s assembly elections, has long rallied around the restoration of autonomy lost. Abdullah insisted his government’s recent resolution demanding statehood—a promise Modi has dangled but not delivered—keeps the fight alive. Yet Sackur’s skepticism was palpable, possibly a “humiliating exercise” for a leader once vocal about undoing 2019’s seismic changes.

The host’s probing didn’t stop there. He challenged Abdullah on what he called a “bleak outlook” for India’s Muslims, suggesting distrust in the country’s institutions. Abdullah pushed back, affirming faith in India’s courts and Parliament—a rare moment of alignment with the national framework that has often clashed with Kashmir’s aspirations. It was a deft sidestep, but one that left Sackur visibly unconvinced, his closing question on the region’s next decade met with Abdullah’s cautious refusal to predict.

In Srinagar, the interview has stirred mixed reactions. Supporters laud Abdullah’s candor on Pakistan’s role, a nod to the valley’s raw wounds after attacks like the October strike on a construction camp that killed seven. Critics, though, see a leader bending to New Delhi’s will, his softened tone on Article 370 a far cry from the firebrand who once warned it was Kashmir’s only link to India. Posts on X captured the divide: some hailed his realism, others decried a “sellout.”

For Abdullah, 54, this was more than a media sparring match—it was a test of his second act as chief minister, a role he first held from 2009 to 2015. Back then, he faced Sackur in Delhi, a younger politician navigating a restive state. Now, with tourism booming—two million visitors in 2024—and militancy at a historic low, he governs a Jammu and Kashmir reshaped by Modi’s vision. Yet the BBC clash underscored an enduring truth: peace remains fragile, and Abdullah’s balancing act is far from over.