Jammu, Nov 13: Taking strong exception to National Conference (NC) leader Mustafa Kamaal’s remark on Indo-Pak talks, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad tonight asked the party to clear its stand on the issue.
“We have taken a strong exception to Mustafa Kamaal's remarks. This is a serious issue. This not the first time that this gentleman (Kamaal) has been giving statements like this,” Azad told PTI.
Kamaal, while addressing NC workers at Kishtwar on Sunday, slammed India saying Kashmiris are closer to Pakistan. Calling India the enemy of J&K, Kamaal alleged, “Time and again India has backtracked from its no war pact with Pakistan.”
Kamaal, is the younger brother of Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah and the uncle of J&K CM Omar Abdullah.
Kamaal also hit out at his coalition partner Congress and main opposition, PDP, saying "coalition is compulsion for us" and "we have plunged into power to keep away both of our enemies from each other, otherwise both had numbers to finish us."
Azad said it is high time that NC should clear its stand on which side of the page they are.
"Individual statements can be tolerated but no Indian can tolerate anti-India statements. We cannot tolerate it", he said.
Farooq Abdullah had yesterday termed Kamaal's remarks as "irresponsible".
"His (Kamaal's) statement is irresponsible. Delhi has never been the enemy of Kashmiris," he had said.
Distancing from Kamaal's statement, Omar had tweeted, "Funny thing is I don't need anyone to make things difficult for me when I have relatives to do it for me."
In another tweet, he said, "They say never work with animals and children. I think it's safe to add relatives to that list as well."

Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 IST