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Ram Jethmalani slams Yasin Malik

Kashmir Committee chairman Ram Jethmalani on Saturday launched a frontal attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, saying it was for the people of the state to decide whether he was their friend or he was destroying them.

Malik had accused Jethmalani of adopting double standards.

"Everybody has the right to say anything. The freedom of expression of which I am a votary is not only for thoughts which you like but also for thoughts which you do not like," Jethmalani said after issuing a joint statement following a brief round of talks with separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah.

When asked about his reported statement that his mission in Kashmir was to bring the emotional loyalties towards India, Jethmalani said, "It is not a war over the territory, but over hearts, which India has to win."

Asked if the Hurriyat had authorised the Kashmir Committee to go to Pakistan for talks with the Pakistan Kashmir Committee, Jethmalani asserted, "I do not need anyone's ikhtiyar [authorisation]."

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