Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 26: While terming the challenging of the abrogation of Article 370 in the Supreme Court a “conspiracy,” Apni Party president, Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari, today said that they will work for the restoration of Statehood for J&K.
Addressing a public gathering in Mujgund area of the Srinagar outskirts, Bukhari said that elected Members of Parliament remained silent and did not talk about people’s issues in 2019.
“Elected members remained silent in the Parliament; they knew that if they spoke, the files on them would be opened; we do not have anything to hide; we will talk about people and their issues,” he said.
He said that there is a lot that needs to be done, which includes the restoration of Statehood and resolution of other matters. “We will work to get the Statehood restored, get our state cadre back; 1400 people are in jails, we have to bring them back,” he added.
“Over 37,000 passport verifications are pending; we have to get those cleared; 5,000 people are those whose job verifications are pending on one pretext or another. Some are told that they were associated with Jamaat e Islami; is being associated with Jamaat e Islami a sin,” he asked.
Referring to those who said that they will fight the abrogation of Article 370 in court, Bukhari termed it a ‘conspiracy,’ noting that political battles are not fought in the courts.
“They took the case of Article 370 to the Supreme Court; it was a political fight, who takes such cases to the Supreme Court. Political matters are resolved through politics. It was a conspiracy, and we have lost there with nowhere to go now,” he said.
Bukhari, on the occasion, demanded allowing the schools operated by the Jamaat-e-Islami to run. “These schools have been closed because they have been told that they are teaching a different syllabus; the Government is not able to provide books even to their schools,” he said.
The former Minister, while referring to their meeting with the Prime Minister and Home Minister, said that there is a lot that needs to be done and that it was the Apni Party that brought the safeguards post 2019.
“When 2019 happened, we had to secure land and jobs. We went to Delhi and got the safeguards. We also got these leaders released who were arrested. If it were not us, they would still be grazing the field,” he said.
Again making a reference to Amit Shah’s recent statement, Bukhari said that it was the Home Minister who has turned out to be “dignified” and “identified the “unidentified gunmen.”
“We have been hearing about unidentified gunmen since the 90s; the Home Minister made it clear and said that it was Congress, NC, and PDP which used to do the fake encounters. Those whose loved ones were killed today know who those unidentified gunmen are.”
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