In a statement that could seriously spark some debates in the coming days, senior Congress Party leader Saiffudin Soz said that Sardar Vallabhai Patel was willing to trade Kashmir in exchange of Hyderabad during partition.
“Sardar Patel was a pragmatist and had offered Kashmir to Liaquat Ali Khan (then Pak PM). He told him ‘don’t talk of Hyderabad, talk Kashmir; take Kashmir but don’t talk of Hyderabad’ as Khan was preparing for war and Patel wasn’t.
Soz had very recently made another controversy with his statement by which he supported the stance of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff’s stance on Kashmir. It was in his book ‘Kashmir: Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle, Soz had said that Musharaffs assessment of Kashmir “seemed to be correct even today “.
“Musharraf said Kashmiris don’t want to merge with Pakistan, their first choice is independence. The statement was true then and remains true now also. I say the same but I know that it is not possible,” he added.
It is possible that his statements are more of a publicity stunt to ensure the popularity of his book.
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