SRINAGAR: A sharp political confrontation has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir over the revival of the long-shelved Tulbul Navigation Project, following India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam massacre.
Actually what is unfortunate is that with your blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points & please some people sitting across the border, you refuse to acknowledge that the IWT has been one of the biggest historic betrayals of the interests of the people of J&K. I have… https://t.co/j55YwE2r39
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 16, 2025
The war of words began on social media when Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on X advocating for the resumption of work on the Tulbul Barrage, a ‘contentious’ project that had been frozen for decades due to objections raised by Pakistan under the IWT.
The Tulbul Navigation Project, also known as the Wular Lake Project, was launched in 1984 at Ningli, on the mouth of Wular Lake in Bandipora district. It aims to regulate water flow from the lake during lean winter months to allow year-round navigation on the Jhelum river, while also enhancing downstream power generation. The construction was halted in 1987 under diplomatic pressure from Pakistan.
In his post, Abdullah remarked that with India having “temporarily suspended” the IWT after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, the moment might be opportune to revive a project he described as economically and strategically beneficial. “It will give us the advantage of allowing us to use the Jhelum for navigation. It will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winter,” he said.
However, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti reacted strongly, criticising the proposal as “irresponsible and dangerously provocative” amid simmering tensions between India and Pakistan. In a post of her own, she said, “At a time when both countries have just stepped back from the brink of a full-fledged war — with Jammu and Kashmir bearing the brunt through the loss of innocent lives, widespread destruction and immense suffering — such statements are not only irresponsible but also dangerously provocative.”
Actually what is unfortunate is that with your blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points & please some people sitting across the border, you refuse to acknowledge that the IWT has been one of the biggest historic betrayals of the interests of the people of J&K. I have… https://t.co/j55YwE2r39
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 16, 2025
She went on to accuse Abdullah of using the water dispute as a political weapon. “Weaponising something as essential and life-giving as water is not only inhumane but also risks internationalising what should remain a bilateral matter,” she said.
Abdullah responded by attacking what he called her “blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points and please some people sitting across the border.” He accused her of ignoring the historic injustice inflicted upon the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the Indus Waters Treaty, which he said deprived them of their rightful use of local water resources. “Opposing a blatantly unfair treaty is in no way warmongering,” he said. “It’s about correcting a historic injustice.”
Mufti, in a further response, alluded to Abdullah’s political lineage, invoking the legacy of Sheikh Abdullah, who she claimed had long advocated for accession to Pakistan before reversing his stance after regaining power. “Time will reveal who seeks to appease whom,” she said. “PDP has consistently upheld its convictions, unlike your party whose loyalties have shifted according to political expediency.”
The escalating exchange saw both leaders accusing each other of inconsistency and political opportunism. Abdullah, for his part, posted a news article from 2016 where Mufti herself had said Jammu and Kashmir had suffered due to the IWT. “Just leaving this out there because ‘consistency’ is in such short supply,” he remarked.
Mufti responded by clarifying her position: while the PDP has questioned the treaty’s impact on the region, it has never advocated scrapping it altogether. “Such a move could heighten tensions and once again place Jammu and Kashmir at the epicentre of conflict,” she warned. “There’s nothing patriotic about fueling instability.”
She also cited PDP’s consistent demand for the return of key hydroelectric projects handed over to NHPC during earlier National Conference regimes. “Even in the PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance, it was agreed that two projects would be returned to Jammu and Kashmir to compensate for the losses from the Indus Waters Treaty,” she said.
Abdullah concluded the exchange with a parting shot, saying he was only advocating for Jammu and Kashmir’s right to use its own rivers. “I’m not going to stop the water, just use more of it for ourselves,” he said, suggesting that his political rival could continue to seek approval elsewhere while he focused on what he called “real work”.
