NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader and former Indian minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has said that Kashmir is not a developmental issue as the Kashmiris want complete Aazadi (freedom) from India.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, who recently visited occupied Kashmir, in an interview to an Indian daily said that during their visit to a tertiary care SMHS hospital – which was flooded by the huge rush of injured people – ‘aazadi’ slogan was attached to the slogan ‘go India go’.
Aiyar said that the draconian law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) didn’t appear to be a primary issue any more, like in the past. It is a definitive political settlement (of the Kashmir dispute) they seek, he said.
He maintained that Kashmir is not a development issue as BJP makes it out to be. “This is a political issue. A political issue must have a political solution,” he added.