Amit Shah demands Rahul’s apology for ‘pro-Pak remarks’ by Azad, Soz

JAMMU: BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi for “pro-Pakistan” statements made by the latter’s party colleagues Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz.

While Azad had said anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir were “targeting the civilians”, Soz had agreed with Pervez Musharraf’s assessment that “if Kashmiris were given a chance to exercise their free will, they would prefer to be independent”.
“I can’t repeat the statement of Ghulam Nabi Azad. As soon as he made the statement, it was endorsed by Lashkar-e-Taiba. Rahul Gandhi should explain how his party’s frequency matches with that of terror outfits,” said Shah while addressing a rally to commemorate the “martyrdom day” or Balidaan Diwas of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
Shah said Rahul would never apologise for comments made by Azad and Shah as “this is his party’s voice”.
Days after BJP withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti government, Shah came down heavily on the party’s former ally PDP saying it had discriminated against Jammu and Ladakh. “Maintaining peace and ensuring equal development in all three regions of the state were part of the agreement between BJP and PDP. But peace did not prevail,” the BJP chief said.
“BJP cannot be party to a dispensation in the state which could not protect slain Army jawan Aurangzeb or editor Shujaat Bukhari,” Shah said, referring to the recent terrorist killings. He added, “Ours is a party of desh bhakts (patriots), and for us, power does not matter much.”