Nobody can trust the government anymore, says Farooq Abdullah

New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday said that the revocation of Article 370 was a surprise and Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not give any hint about the abrogation during a meeting held just before the move.

In an interview with a media house, Abdullah said, "Nobody can trust the government anymore. There is not a day when they don't lie."

"The day before abrogation, I had met the PM. He was absolutely kind and nice and unbelievable. When I asked him why so many troops had been moved in, he did not say anything," Farooq Abdullah said.

During the interview, while requesting the PM to be more honest and really face the facts, the veteran politician said he(PM) knows what he did was not right.

Abdullah described his first feelings on learning of the mega Article 370 decision as that of being "wonderstruck". He said, "Anybody who is here was wonderstruck. It was only when I was closed in and informed by my police that I can't go out that I realized."

Recalling his emotional outburst after the government claimed in Parliament that he was not in detention, Abdullah said, "This was strange. We stood with the nation; this was something I never expected would happen to us. We were no different from separatists we hear."

On the perceived lack of public sympathy after his arrest, he said, "Because we stood with the nation and many people fear, feel that the nation is not the one we should stand with. That's the truth. If you go with India, this is what's going to happen."

"My phones were cut, the only thing I had was TV. Being an MP, I was supposed to have a phone. I wanted to speak to my daughter in England but I couldn't talk to her," Abdullah said.