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".