PDP calls Kamal Hassan’s call for plebiscite in Kashmir his ‘desperation’

Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party on Monday called Kamaal Hassan’s call for plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir his “desperation”.
“There are some casualties (among CRPF men killed in Lethpora Pulwama) from the area he belongs to and he is making such calls in desperation,” said PDP leader Suhail Bukhari, the former media consultant of PDP-BJP Government during a news debate on CNN News 18. However, he called for a pragmatic solution to Kashmir issue and what that pragmatic solution was not delineated by him. Whether he was referring to PDP’s self-rule, shelved by party while entering into alliance with BJP, or any other solution was not elaborated by him during the debate.
Suhail Bukhari joined Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) this year and prior to it, he was appointed media consultant of Jammu and Kashmir Government when Mehbooba Mufti was Chief Minister. But he later resigned without citing any reason. Bukhari belongs to Kreeri Village of Sangrama constituency represented twice as PDP MLA by Syed Basharat Bukhari who recently resigned from PDP and joined National Conference (NC).
Earlier Tamil film icon and now a politician Kamal Haasan sought to know why India was “scared” to hold a plebiscite in the Kashmir. The actor’s comments came during his interaction at a reputed school in Chennai on Sunday when he was asked about the recent attack in Pulwama that killed 49 CRPF personnel.
Expressing his views, he said, “I truly regret when people say army men are going to Kashmir to die”. He questioned, “Why should an army man die?”
Veteran actor asked what has the human civilisation learnt in the past 10,000 years. “I don’t believe that army personnel go to (Kashmir) to die. The army itself is an old-fashioned thing. I think we should one day decide not to kill each other (in war) like we decided not to kill and eat each other during the early days of civilisation,” the actor said.
While talking about an article he wrote some decades back in a magazine ‘Maiyam’ run by him then, Kamal Haasan said he had then questioned why the people of Kashmir were not taken into confidence and why no plebiscite was held.
The United Nations Security Council Resolutions adopted in 1948 with the concurrence of both India and Pakistan call for a plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir.
“You will never conduct a plebiscite. Why are you scared? Anyways now India has…,” he said.