Srinagar, Nov 16: Senior National Conference leader and Member Parliament Dr Mehboob Beg on Wednesday reacted sharply to remarks of the former deputy prime minister and senior Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).     
 “I want to remind him (Advani) whether he remembers when Vajpayee was the prime minister he had said that talks with Kashmiris should be held within the framework of humanity. He (Vajpayee) during his visit to Pakistan had said that no one can think of peace in the subcontinent till Kashmir issue is resolved,” Dr Beg told Greater Kashmir.          
 He said that I want to remind Advani that when he was the Union Home Minister, New Delhi for the first time held talks with militant leaders. “Has Advani forgotten all this?”  
 “The draconian law like AFSPA has been at place in JK for the past two decades. Does Advani mean that JK cannot be governed if AFSPA is revoked. He (Advani) is echoing separatists as they also claim that JK cannot be governed without AFSPA,” Dr Beg said.     
 He said that it was high time for all national parties to realize that consensus should be build to resolve the Kashmir issue and it cannot be wished away every time. “To keep Kashmir issue lingering hasn’t helped Government of India and it won’t help also,” he added.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST