Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SR)

New Delhi, Aug 13: Mani Shankar Aiyer is someone who is not new to controversies. The senior Congress leader again managed to ruffle feathers with his latest editorial on the historic event of abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

In an article written in the Indian Express titled 'Who are we to teach Kashmiris the virtues of democracy?', Aiyar equates Kashmir’s situation to Palestine while calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘Zionist trampling on freedom of Kashmiris' He goes on to say that PM Modi and Amit Shah have just created a Palestine on our northern border.

Aiyar, in the editorial, wrote: Modi-Shah have learned their lessons well from their mentor, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionists, including Menachem Begin, who preceded Netanyahu. They have learned how to trample on the freedom, dignity and self-respect of the Kashmiris even as Israel has tried to get away with seven decades of merciless oppression of the Palestinians.

The senior Congress leader, who was in the forefront talking to separatists in the Kashmir region and trying to bring about peace in the valley, had in the past found himself in trouble, when in a public rally in Pakistan he said, he was happy with Pakistan’s policy and sad with India’s approach on the India-Pakistan issue. Aiyar said, "There is only one way of resolving India-Pakistan issues and that is by uninterrupted and un-interruptable dialogue and I am very proud and half very sad that this sentence of these three words has been accaepted as Pakistan policy, but has not been accepted as Indian policy."

Aiyar once told a Pakistani television channel that talks between India and Pakistan can only move forward if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is removed from his post. Responding to a question during an interview with Duniya TV, Aiyar said, "You need to remove Modi, otherwise talks will not move forward."