Hamirpur, August 23

Union minister Anurag Thakur has termed "anti-India" and "absurd" PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's statement referring to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan to call upon the Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

Addressing reporters here on Sunday night, he claimed that the PDP and its allies had been upset since their exit from power and the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are on the path of development under the BJP government, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said.

Addressing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) workers in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday, Mehbooba had asked the Centre to take a lesson out of Afghanistan where the Taliban seized power and made the US flee, and urged the government to hold dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir and return its special status.

Referring to the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan, the former chief minister had warned the Centre "not to test us" and asked the government to "mend its ways, understand the situation, and see what is happening in your neighbourhood".

Thakur said Mehbooba's statement is "anti-India" and "absurd".

He claimed that the PDP and its allies had been upset since their exit from power and the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

They should understand that whatever happened in the past would not be repeated. Both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are on the path of development and would continue to thrive under the BJP rule. They would become model states of India, he said.

Thakur, who is also the minister for youth affairs and sports, said sports would be given priority under the New Education Policy and all modern facilities would be provided to the budding sportspersons.

He said sports would be promoted across the country through 'Khel Maha Kumbh'. PTI