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Amit Shah attacks Ghulam Nabi Azad, Saifuddin Soz over Kashmir remarks; seeks apology from Rahul Gandhi

In a scathing attack on Congress for recent statements of its two senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saif ud Din Soz on Kashmir, BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday asked its president Rahul Gandhi to take action against them and tender an apology to the nation.
In a scathing attack on Congress for recent statements of its two senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz on Kashmir, BJP president Amit Shah Saturday asked its president Rahul Gandhi to take action against them and tender an apology to the nation.

While Azad, leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, had said that Army operations in the state killed more civilians than terrorists, former union minister Soz in his book – ‘Kashmir: Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle’, wrote that “Musharraf (former Pakistan president) had explained that if Kashmiris were given a chance to exercise their free will, they would prefer to be independent. In fact, this assessment of Musharraf seems to be correct even today”. Lashkar-e-Taiba spokesman Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi reportedly in an emailed statement had quoted their chief Mahmood Shah saying that they agreed with Azad.
“Your top leader’s statement is endorsed by Lashkar-e-Toiba,” pointed out Shah, at a rally to mark “historic martyrdom anniversary” of Mookerjee at Parade Ground in Jammu. He asked Rahul Gandhi to explain “this frequency matching between Congress and LeT. “Rahul shall answer the nation that what is this relationship that ideology of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Ghulam Nabi Azad becomes same,” the BJP leader said.

Turning to Soz for endorsing Musharraf’s explanation on Kashmir, he asked the former union minister to “stop dreaming”. “You take 100 births, but BJP will never allow Kashmir to have seceded from India as Mookerjee has spilled his blood here,” he added. “You cannot change history,” he said, asking Congress president that if he had any dignity then he shall take action against both these leaders and apologize to the nation.

However, he will not apologize as it is their party’s ideology, Shah added in the same breath, assuring people that whatsoever Congress conspires, no one can secede Jammu and Kashmir from India.
The BJP leader also referred to his party’s decision to first have coalition with PDP after the 2014 hung assembly verdict and over three years thereafter, pulling out of it. Justifying BJP’s both the decisions, he said that the three main things in the Common Minimum Programme arrived at with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed included equitable development of all the three regions of the state, besides state government will do everything possible to maintain peace and wipe out terrorism and separatism, and thirdly Jammu and Kashmir will be an integral part of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited state over a dozen times and gave Rs 80,000 crore economic package, he said, adding that “we repeatedly exerted pressure for equitable development, but that dream did not come true. Peace could not be restored and a time came when rifleman Aurangzeb and editor Shujaat Bukhari got killed by terrorists”.

“While pressure groups had become active and they did not allow the state government to function on one hand, on the other hand, discrimination continued with Jammu and Ladakh regions in matters of development,” he said, adding that projects meant for these regions were not implemented on the ground by the state government.

Shah also accused both its erstwhile alliance partner PDP and National Conference of amassing wealth through corrupt means. Both these families (Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah) have in alliance with Congress ruled the state for three generations each but have done nothing for the welfare of the state and its people, he said, adding that their personal wealth equals to that of the entire state.