The Jammu and Kashmir Congress is forming a team to go through the book written by senior party leader Saif-ud-din Soz which generated a debate following reported reference to former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf's view that "independence" is the first choice of Kashmiris, state party chief G A Mir said today.
Mir also came in defence of another party leader and former state chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad over his remarks that army operations killed more civilians than terrorists, saying he is nationalist by core and does not need certificate from BJP president Amit Shah and his men.
We are officially forming a team and will see whether there is anything objectionable in the book written by Soz and formally being released tomorrow. After going through the book, the team will highlight that and talk to him to know whether it is his personal view or he had attributed it to the party.
If he attributes something to the party which is not acceptable to the party or in line with its policy, Congress will not own that, Mir told reporters here.
"Musharraf 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," Soz has written in the book.
On the controversy generated by Soz, Mir said the former had made it clear that he had referred to 1947 undivided Kashmir and in today's context, his views are that it (independence) is not possible.
Mir said it has become a fashion to pen books nowadays and also a continuous effort from different agencies, interlocutors and different people who are looking for viable alternative to ensure return of peace to Kashmir and end of the bloodshed.
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On BJP president Amit Shah's statement that congress president Rahul Gandhi should seek forgiveness from the nation on behalf of Azad and Soz, he said Azad did not need a certificate from him or his men.
Azad has a political career spanning over 40 year, from an ordinary worker to the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha he is neither in the politics for over a week nor had come into politics with a court case, or highlighted himself by communal incidents.
He is there by the dent of hard-work, dedication, honesty and nationalism. He was tested by the nation and the people of the nation know him very well. He is a nationalist by core and does not need a certificate from Shah or any of his men, the state Congress chief said.
However, Mir said Azad will himself clarify in what context he had made the statement on his return.
On Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) terror group endorsing Azad's statement, he questioned the authenticity of the statement and said this is the time of social media and anybody can misuse it to his benefit.
What is the authenticity of the statement? Have you talked to him (LeT) chief? he said and added we were in the middle of an all party meeting convened by the Governor recently and it was being propagated outside that the meeting has been cancelledI don't have any proof (on the authenticity of the LeT statement), he said.
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