The Congress has backed the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, for writing a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying that the former is the citizen of India and has the right to write a letter to whosoever he wants.
“He is a citizen of India. He has a right to write letter to whosoever he wants. But what will be the impact of this letter that is a bit difficult to say because I don’t think that Nawaz Sharif was waiting for his letter to hold talks,”Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
He said the only way to resolve the issue of Kashmir is to hold talks with Pakistan and the Hurriyat together.
“It’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has restricted everyone to hold talks with the Hurriyat and nobody is gaining anything from it. The path shown by the Shahi Imam is correct; we should hold talks with Pakistan and even the Hurriyat should be included in it,”Aiyar said.
Another Congress leader Meem Afzal also supported Bukhari’s letter to Sharif and said that Bukhari wrote the letter for the betterment of Kashmir, as it seems he is concerned about the ongoing situation of Kashmir.
“I think he has done this thing for the betterment of the people. He wants the matter of Kashmir to be resolved. I completely support him,” Afzal said.
Earlier on Saturday, Shahi Imam wrote a letter to Sharif in which he urged him to use his authority to end the volatile atmosphere in the Kashmir Valley by initiating dialogue with Hurriyat representatives.