Present political contest between truth and falsehood: Syed Altaf Bukhari
Urges people to use their vote wisely, not to fall prey to political gimmicks
Srinagar: Denouncing political deceptions by the traditional political parties in J&K, Apni Party (AP) President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Sunday said that the time has come when people have to decide whether they want to continue falling prey to deceptive politics or they would choose to support the realistic politics for a better future.
Bukhari was addressing a massive public rally at Nowgam in Srinagar, where the locals and the party workers gave a grand reception to the AP leader on his arrival at the venue.
A procession of the highly charged crowd, while raising slogans in his favor, took their leader up to the rostrum in an open jeep, which has been an unusual practice in Srinagar in recent history.
According to a statement issued here, Bukhari while addressing the rally advised people to learn from their past experiences and refuse to fall prey to the political gimmicks of the traditional parties yet again.
He said, “You have been always hoodwinked by the traditional political parties in the name of alluring slogans such as plebiscite, autonomy, self-rule, Azadi, and so on. They misled you for their political gains all these years.”
“Enough is enough. Now, you must be able to say no to the further political exploitations any, and refuse to fall into the trap of emotional sloganeering and deceptive promises by these parties and their leaders.”
Referring to the forthcoming assembly elections, the Apni Party President said, “J&K people are about to enter a crucial phase where people’s vote will decide their future. It is up to you, whether you choose those who have been deceiving you all these years and decades, or you will vote for a better alternative. You must understand that the forthcoming elections are basically a fight between the truth and falsehood.”
Bukhari explained, “Those who are promising you the moon and stars are misleading you. People have already suffered hugely due to their deceptive politics. Please, do not trust them again. Earlier, you had no options, but, now you have the Apni Party as an alternative. This party is with the exception that it does not lie to its people. We make only attainable promises to you. We do not believe in unachievable goals and emotional slogans, which have ruined the lives of the people so far. Thousands of our youth have landed either in jails or graveyards only because of the emotional politics and misleading slogans by these traditional political parties.”
He further said, “Had these traditional political parties given a chance to a fair democratic system to grow Yasin Malk would have not been in jail at this time, neither would Syed Salahuddin have been isolated from his motherland. These people had expressed their faith in the democratic system here but the traditional political parties disheartened them by historically infamous rigging in the 1987 polls. That is why I say that these traditional parties and the so-called leaders are responsible for the suffering and deaths that the people of this land were subjected to during past more than three decades.”
Describing the agenda and vision of the Apni Party, Syed Altaf Bukhari said, “We have an unambiguous agenda and policy. We want to work for sustained peace, durable prosperity and the development of Jammu and Kashmir; and the political and economic empowerment of its people. These are achievable goals and we have a clear vision about how to implement our agenda on the ground provided people give us a mandate in the forthcoming assembly elections.”
He further said, “I assure you that we will work to ensure the protection of the political rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Apni Party, if elected to serve would ensure peace and prosperity here; and we will make sure that the benefits of peace and prosperity reach each and every citizen irrespective of his or her religious identity and political ideology, or geographical location in J&K.”
