Pulwama, Sep 20: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Wednesday said his party’s doors are open for all those people who uphold the Constitution of the country and don’t indulge in anti-national activities.
“The doors of our party are open for all such people who have faith in the Constitution of our country and don’t indulge in communal politics, drug abuse and terrorism,” he said, adding that the party will welcome such people even if they were having different ideology in the past.
The JKAP president was talking to media persons here at Padgampora village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district after addressing a large gathering of party workers.
On the occasion, Bukhari reiterated that democracy is the foundation of this country and demanded that the people of Jammu & Kashmir be granted an opportunity to exercise their right to elect a government which will address their issues.
“The people should be given an opportunity to form a popular government,” he said, adding that people themselves will decide whom to elect.
He said an elected government bears a solemn responsibility to solve various public issues on a priority basis. A government is formed to solve the basic issues of the general public, he said.
Bukhari also said that daily wage employees of various departments should have been regularised five years back. He promised that if the Apni Party came to power, it would regularise the services of these daily wagers within 30 days.
Meanwhile, according to a party statement, the Apni Party president said, “Collectively, we can break free from the grip of conventional political parties and their leaders who have been exploiting and deceiving people for decades for their own political gains.”
“History stands witness that these parties and their leaders have always deceived people and exploited them for their own political gains, primarily for attaining power and remaining in power,” he said.
Bukhari went on to explain it further, “These parties kept people busy with deceitful narratives and emotionally charged slogans, such as Rai Shumari, Autonomy, Self-rule, and more. However, for themselves and their families, they chose to accumulate riches and power.”
Regarding his past engagement with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Altaf Bukhari said, “The PDP was apparently established to put an end to the dynastic rule of the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir. However, with the passage of time, it became evident that even the leaders of this party were establishing their own family rule here. As soon as I realised the true intentions of the party’s leaders, I quit it.”
Reiterating his perspective on J&K’s affiliation with the rest of the country, he said, “We have two distinct narratives here: one grounded in truth and the other in falsehood. The undeniable truth is that the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir opted to align with India in 1947. Regardless of whether the decision was right or wrong, the fact remains that J&K was destined to be an integral part of the country forever. We must accept this reality.”
