ISLAMABAD: A prominent Congress leader has said the attitude of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders towards Mehbooba Mufti after she called for dialogue with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue shows they do not wish to understand that Pakistan is a basic party to the dispute.
“These ministers also refuse to understand that Kashmir is a live issue on the United Nations Agenda and Pakistan has all along been accepted as a basic party to the dispute,” said former minister Prof Saifuddin Soz.
According to the Kashmir Media Service (KMS), Prof Soz said in a statement that when Ms Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Anurag Thakur denounced former occupied Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti it demonstrated an “arrogance of power”. He said these BJP leaders have created an impression that “they do not care for facts”.
“Mehbooba Mufti has not brought other countries into discussion on Kashmir as they alleged. She has just suggested that the Kashmir issue can be best resolved through discussion and dialogue with Pakistan, besides the people of Jammu and Kashmir. What is wrong in the statement?” Soz asked.
He said these ministers should know that whatever Mehbooba Mufti said was in good faith, and “happens to be a fact accepted universally”. “She is also right when she says that the Kashmir dispute can be best resolved through discussion and dialogue,” Soz said.