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Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz on Friday, 22 June, said former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was right that Kashmiris wanted independence over joining Pakistan, reported ANI.
Before Musharraf went out of the system, Soz said he had a “conversation with both Vajpayee and Manmohan”.
Further, he said, that “Musharraf wanted dignified peace with India.”
Speaking to The Quint, Soz said autonomy and demilitarisation on both sides, as was envisaged under the Vajpayee-Musharraf-Manmohan formula, will ensure that both India and Pakistan don’t go to war. He added:
In his forthcoming book Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle, Soz reportedly argues that the Centre should open dialogue with the Hurriyat Conference before moving to mainstream parties to resolve the Kashmir issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MP Subramanian Swamy hit out at Soz for his remarks, saying if he liked Musharraf, India will give them a one-way ticket to Pakistan. He also claimed that Soz benefited from the Centre’s power when his daughter Nahida Imtiaz was kidnapped by Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, too, launched a scathing attack on the Congress for Soz’s remarks. He called the politician-turned-author’s comments “shameful”.
BJP leader Sambit Patra hit out at the Congress stating that there was a “Pakistan within Congress.”
Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi called Soz’s statement “irresponsible”.
“Kashmir is itself a critical issue. The separatists and the terrorists have hijacked the growth, development, and peace of Kashmir. We all must come together forward to defeat such powers. One should not give any such statements that will boost the morale of separatists and terrorists in the Valley,” he said.
Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi should respond to Soz’s statement, and that Soz should migrate to Pakistan.
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