"Be It My Party Or Any Other... We Divide People": Congress's GN Azad

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has indicated he would quit politics and expressed disappointment over political parties, including the Congress, creating division among people. Mr Azad is among the Congress's "G-23" dissidents.

"We have to bring about a change in society. Sometimes I think, and it is not a big deal that suddenly you come to know that I have retired and started doing social service," Mr Azad said.

He recently met with Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi after the party's bad performance as the G-23 sought for a collective leadership.

"Political parties work to create a divide, 24x7, amongst people on the basis of religion, caste and other things," Mr Azad said. "Be it my party or any other regional or national party, I am not forgiving any of them. Civil society should stay together and fight against the evils," the Congress leader said at an event in Jammu on Sunday.

Mr Azad blamed politicians for the "evils" in society. "We (political parties) divided people on the basis of region, village and cities, Hindus and Muslim, Shia and Sunnis, Dalit and non-Dalit, divisions in backward classes also. Now, who remains to be a human in all this? Human values have lost priorities amidst the decline," Mr Azad said.

"Politics in India has become so ugly that sometimes one has to doubt whether we are human," he said, adding communal polarisation in the country has increased.

His comments come at a time when the movie 'The Kashmir Files', based on the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, has created a buzz in the political circles, with some supporting it and others criticising it.

Mr Azad also said Pakistan and terrorism were responsible for all that took place in Kashmir valley. "Pakistan and militancy are responsible for what has happened in Jammu and Kashmir. It has affected all in Jammu and Kashmir, including Hindus, Kashmiri Pandits, Muslims, Dogras," he said.