Azam Khan's controversial remarks on Kashmir provokes harsh criticism

Badayun, Lucknow, Kanpur, Dec 22 (ANI): The controversial statement of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan on whether Kashmir is a part of India has invited ire and harsh reaction from leaders of different political parties.

Khan at a rally in Badayun on Tuesday night said: "There is only one Cabinet Minister named Ghulam Nabi Azad and that too he is not from India, but Kashmir, in that Kashmir where the whole issue is that whether it is a part of India or not. I would very sadly say that Ghulam Nabi i would not know whether Badayun is in Bihar or Kolkata.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari criticized Azam Khan for making such an anti-national statement against India's integrity, saying it would not be tolerated.

Tiwari said the Samajwadi Party leader ought to realize that he has eaten the salt of the nation and can't utter such anti-national words.

"When Azam Khan was saying that Ghulam Nabi Azad... firstly he does not know simple counting. Ghulam Nabi Azad is not only a Muslim minister, but Farooq Abdullah is also a Muslim minister. The counting should be of two ministers," Tiwari told reporters in Lucknow.

"And him saying that he his from Kashmir not India what does he want to say that Kashmir is not a part of India and if he says so then I think he is not speaking the language of India," he added.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest against Azam Khan's comments in Kanpur city today.

The protestors shouted slogans against him, and later burnt his effigy after smearing it with black paint.

BJYM leader Mukesh Sharma said Khan has committed an act of sedition by saying that Jammu and Kashmir is not a part of India.

"The way a leader of this country has done act of treason by saying that Kashmir is not an integral part of India has been projected by the media, Hence we, the citizens have been angered.

Kashmir is an integral part of India and would remains," said Sharma. (ANI)