New Delhi should hold referendum if it is true to its claims: Shabir Shah

Srinagar: Expressing wonder over the contradictory of Indian leaders on Kashmir, the incarcerated chairman of Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad Shah on Wednesday said it shows how New Delhi is trying to run away from dialogue to resolve the longstanding dispute.
In a statement issued to KNS, Shah said if Indian leadership thinks it can mislead the world by such statements it is living in a fool’s paradise.
Shah also condemned the statement of Venkaiah Naidu that Kashmir movement is restricted to only five districts and termed it far from reality. He said Kashmir is not a bilateral issue but has three stakeholders.
He said Indian leadership is deliberately issuing such statements to mislead its own people regarding Kashmir thereby creating war hysteria among them.
Giving reference to UN resolutions and more than 100 dialogue processes between India and Pakistan, Shah said Kashmir dispute has always been a bone of contention between two countries and has consumed lakhs of human lives and property worth trillions.
On Naidu’s assertion that dialogue will be held with only pro-India politicians, Shah said dispute is resolved between two opposite parties and those who are already on payrolls have no part to play.
Shah challenged New Delhi to hold referendum in the state if it is true to its claims and whatever the results will be acceptable to us. “Indian leadership should respond positively and without any hesitation, to such suggestion,” Shah said. (KNS)