Samba, Dec 17: Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari on Saturday lashed out at the ruling BJP’s aggressive and destructive policies against J&K and its people.
He was addressing a party convention at the Samba constituency in Jammu, where people and the party workers greeted him rousingly on his arrival at the venue.
According to the statement issued to Rising Kashmir, Bukhari while taking a dig at the BJP blamed the ruling party in Delhi for trying to undermine the constitutional and political rights of the J&K people. “It is disturbing to see that new aggressive laws undermining the rights and interests of J&K are being brought into effect here with each passing day.” He said the latest, in this regard, are the new land lease rules, which might terminate the old leases.
The Apni Party President denounced the BJP government for not restoring statehood to J&K, and not holding assembly elections. “They say that the promise of abrogation of article 370 was in their election manifesto. But, then why did they also snatch the statehood away and divided J&K into two union territories? And, why don’t they hold elections here even after a state of normalcy is restored here? These things are creating apprehensions among the masses,” he said.
“To elect their own representatives to place them at the helm of affairs is a democratic right of the people, and they cannot be deprived of this right for so long without any plausible reason,” Bukhari added.
Emphasizing on unity among the people of Jammu and the Valley, and urging them to maintain harmony, Apni Party President said, “People of both regions ought to stand united and maintain harmony so that they can protect their constitutional rights and mutual interests,.
He said we need to initiate a movement to demand our rights such as the restoration of statehood, holding of immediate assembly polls, and reversal of hostile laws which have been brought into effect for the past some time. “Jammu and Valley is a single unit and people must understand that they have mutual interests to protect. You must stand united and assert your rights.”
He assured that the Apni Party will not leave any stone unturned to protect the interests of Jammu and Kashmir. “When there was chaos and uncertainty across the J&K post-August 5, 2019, and people were apprehensive of losing their identity and even basic rights, Apni Party took the initiative and raised its voice in the corridors of power at New Delhi”.
