Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 28: Urging people to use their voting power to reject the traditional parties, Apni Party president, Altaf Bukhari today said that the deceptions of these parties and their leaders are now exposed in front of the people.
He said the these parties even lost the deceptive narratives that they would employ to befool people over the years and decades.
Bukhari made these comments during his speeches at party conventions held at Muniwar Khanabal, and Bijbehara in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. These events were part of the party’s ongoing campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.
Altaf Bukhari said that the traditional parties and their leaders can no longer deceive people through false narratives and emotionally charged slogans. “The traditional parties, especially those run by two families- (NC/PDP), have long misled the public with false narratives and emotionally charged slogans. However, their deceit has been laid bare, and their once-potent narratives have crumbled. Nobody is going to trust their slogans like ‘Raishumari’, ‘Autonomy’, ‘Self-rule’, and others anymore. People know that they have been deceived by these parties and their leaders through these misleading slogans.”
He said once the Apni Party gets a public mandate, it will hold these parties accountable for their role in shedding innocent blood on this land.
“One of these parties is responsible for the killings of more than 100 innocent people in 2010, while the other killed 128 individuals and blinded young boys and girls by using pellet guns in 2016. I promise you that once the Apni Party receives a public mandate, it will ensure that these ruthless politicians and so-called leaders face the force of justice. We will ensure that the parents who lost their children receive justice.”
“One of the leaders who was at the helm of affairs in 2016, when bullets rained down, even on children, shamelessly justified these killings by heartlessly remarking, ‘Kiya ye bachay chocolates aur doodh lene niklay thay’ (Had these children come out of their homes to fetch chocolates and milk for themselves). These ruthless words will always haunt people in Kashmir.”
Bukhari urged people to use the power of their vote to reject traditional parties and their leaders in these elections.
Zaffar Iqbal Manhas promised people that he would deliver his duties with the utmost honesty and dedication if given a mandate by the people.
Senior leaders Usman Majid, Rafi Ahmad Mir, Hilal Ahmad Shah, Abdul Rahim Rather and others also spoke on the occasion.