NEW DELHI – Indian Congress veteran leader and former union ministerSaifuddin Soz on Friday said he agreed with former Pakistan PresidentPervez Musharaff on the statement that if Kashmiris were given the chanceto exercise their free will, they would prefer to be independent.

Speaking to ANI, he said, “Musharraf said Kashmiris don’t want to mergewith Pakistan, their first choice is independence. The statement was truethen and remains true now also. I say the same but I know that it is notpossible.”

Soz claimed that the then Musharraf had shared this view with his topcolleagues (both in the army and outside) in the Pakistani establishment in2007, when Manmohan Singh was preparing to visit Islamabad for a decisivesummit with him.

The Shiv Sena meanwhile lashed out at Soz’s remark. Party spokespersonManish Kayande said, “The Congress President needs to reply on SaifuddinSoz’s statement & if Congress vouches for his statement. If he (SaifuddinSoz) has so much affection for Pakistan & Musharraf then he should considermigrating to Pakistan and become his servant.”

Last year, Soz blamed India, not Pakistan for the problems in Jammu andKashmir. Later, he defended his controversial statement saying, “Autonomyhad been enshrined in the Constitution of India The conditional accessionto India had been expanded by adding subjects. SK Abdullah led thedelegation and talked to Nehru. Between Nehru and Abdullah was theagreement that gave comprehensive autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. Delhigovernmentt unilaterally eroded that 370 (Article) and created the problem.”

Last year, he had also courted controversy by saying that he would haveheld a dialogue with Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani if he was notkilled by security forces in 2016.

While talking to a TV news channel, Soz had said,”Burhani Wani should havestayed alive so that I could have had a dialogue with him. I would haveexplained to him that Kashmir can become a strong bridge of friendshipbetween India and Pakistan and he (Wani) could also be of help (inachieving it). But he is dead now.”