Insta
Saifuddin Soz (L) with Sonia Gandhi. (Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Congress leader from Kashmir Saifuddin Soz has true friends across the border, it seems. In an endorsement of former Pakistani general Pervez Musharraf (and not India, whose citizenship he holds), the former Union water resources minister has said that Musharraf was ‘right’ in his assessment that Kashmiris want ‘independent’ status, says a report in Indian Express.
Pitching for ‘continuous engagement and dialogue’ with hardline separatists, the Hurriyat Conference, Soz has in a forthcoming book argued that the central government should keep the channels of communication ‘open’, before trying to find a solution to the Kashmir issue.
He claims that constant ‘blunders’ by the central government since the times of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi have resulted in ‘alienation’ of Kashmiris. The plight of Kashmiri Pandits however, was not mentioned.
His book is titled Kashmir: Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle, and will be released next week.
He quotes Musharraf as opining that if Kashmiris were given a chance to exercise their free will, they would prefer to be ‘independent’, wholeheartedly endorsing this assessment.
Soz also said that the government “should have realized much earlier that it was wrong for it to dilute the autonomy that was enshrined in Article 370 of the Constitution of India and the Delhi Agreement of 1952.”
The former minister, in the book, also calls for scaling down troops in the Valley as well as revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, even as the one of the holiest of Hindu pilgrimages, the Amarnath Yatra, was attacked just last year.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest