Omar-Mehbooba Face-off Over Tulbul Project Heats Up as Political Barbs Fly on X

Srinagar: The longstanding Tulbul Navigation Project has sparked a fresh political storm in Jammu and Kashmir, with former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti exchanging sharp barbs on social media platform X over the revival of the decades-old infrastructure project.

On Friday, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah strongly defended his call to revive the Tulbul Navigation Barrage, slamming Mehbooba Mufti’s opposition to the move as a “bid for cheap publicity” and an attempt to “appease certain sections” across the border in Pakistan.

Abdullah’s remarks followed his earlier post advocating for the project’s resumption, especially in light of India’s temporary suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. “The Wular lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty. Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended,’ I wonder if we will be able to resume the project,” he wrote while sharing a video of the site on X.

He argued that resuming the project would be a strategic move that benefits J&K, allowing better navigation and enhanced power generation, particularly during the region’s harsh winters.

However, Mehbooba Mufti was quick to hit back. In a stinging reply, she dragged Abdullah’s political lineage into the fray, alleging that his grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, had once shown support for Pakistan after being ousted from power, only to switch sides once reinstated as Chief Minister.

“But post being reinstated as Chief Minister he suddenly reversed his stance by aligning with India. In contrast, the PDP has consistently upheld its convictions & commitments & unlike your party whose loyalties have shifted dramatically according to political expediency,” Mehbooba wrote on X.

She also warned against warmongering, adding, “We don’t need to stoke tensions or adopt warmongering rhetoric to validate our dedication. Our actions speak for themselves.”

The Tulbul Navigation Project, located at the mouth of Wular Lake in north Kashmir, has long been a contentious issue between India and Pakistan, with Islamabad opposing it under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty brokered by the World Bank. Initiated in the early 1980s, the project was suspended after Pakistan raised objections.

While Mehbooba’s party, the PDP, has emphasized peace and diplomacy, Omar Abdullah continues to label the treaty as “deeply unfair” and a “historic betrayal” of Jammu and Kashmir’s interests.