‘Abdullah, Mufti families torch bearers of Indian flag in J&K’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 12: While demanding restoration of statehood status and early conduct of Assembly elections in J&K UT, Apni Party president, Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari today said that Abdullah and Mufti families are the `torch bearers’ of the Indian flag in Jammu and Kashmir.
Bukhari also demanded CBI probe into the vandalisation of hills along Jammu-Srinagar National National Highway in Ramban sector and said that there was urgent need to expose the nexus between officials and contractors on this highway which has posed serious threat to the lives of the people as well as the environment. National Green Tribunal (NGT) must take serious note of it, he asserted.
Talking to media-persons at the sidelines of a function organized in Jammu to felicitate DDC members of the Party and Indepedents today, Bukhari said that Prime Minister Modi must honour his words. “We are waiting for the fulfillment of the promise made to us from the floor of Parliament that the statehood to J&K would be restored. We want our identity back,” Bukhari, who was flanked by senior party leaders said.
He said PM made a promise about the restoration of the statehood to the JKAP delegation when they called on him after formation of the party last year. “We take the credit for restoring politics in J&K. Politics was said goodbye on August 5, 2019 (when majority of the leaders including three former Chief Ministers were detained). We came forward though the decision of the August 5 was not in good taste for us as well. The people want restoration of statehood and safeguards for their land and jobs,” he said.
Batting for early Assembly elections after the successful conduct of the recently held DDC polls, the JKAP leader said the people want a popular government so that their problems get solved.
He claimed that the present administration is “paralysed” and both the regions are facing a lack of developmental work and administration inertia. “We do not see any development taking place in any of part of the two regions. Development has come to a grinding halt and the administration is paralysed and restricted to advertisements only. People are facing lot of problems,” he added.
Bukhari also demanded a probe into the frequent closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and the ongoing four-lanning project. “Jammu-Srinagar highway is the lifeline as far as national security is concerned. Why there should be no CBI probes against engineers and contractors who vandalised the hills overlooking the strategic highway. They should be booked under National Security Act,” he said.
Referring to the continued snapping of 4G mobile internet services in most of J&K post-August 5 development, he said there is a lot of improvement as far as security scenario is concerned as militancy-related incidents had come down and there was a peaceful DDC election as well so there is no justification in the ban.
He also demanded the release of youth undergoing detention and said “now is the time for normalcy and reconciliation”.
“Those who have gone astray are coming back and need a rehabilitation package,” he said and called for a stipend of Rs 10,000 for unemployed educated youth.
While replying to a question Bukhari said, Abdullah and Mufti families are the “torch bearers” of the National flag in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I would like to give them full credit for having this region with India. I have a lot of respect for both the families (Abdullah and Mufti). They have a contribution not only for this region, but for the country as a whole,” Bukhari maintained.
Responding to another question about these leaders’ influence on people with their “emotive slogans”, the former minister said, “I ask myself was the contribution and the sacrifices of the two families for this country less?”
“Is it not a fact that they were the torch bearers of the Indian flag in J&K. If we are with India, it is because of these families – at least one of the families openly and the other covertly. So, I would like to give them credit for having this region with this country,” he said.
However, he attacked the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) and claimed that the alliance had crumbled sooner than they expected.
“We never accepted this alliance as a people’s alliance. It was an alliance of the parties for the parties. They had to face the public and thus created a smoke screen. Anything on the foundation of a lie will crumble and it has crumbled sooner than we expected,” he said.
Senior party leaders Ghulam Hassan Mir, Zulfikar Ali, Aijaz Khan, Vijay Bakaya, Vikram Malhotra, Manjit Singh, Namrata Sharma, Syed Asgar Ali, Javed Hassan Beigh and others were also present.
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