Srinagar: Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari Saturday said that his party will do everything to ensure a dignified and prosperous life for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He was addressing a well-attended public meeting in north Kashmir’s Pattan today.
According to a press note, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari urged people to use their vote wisely in the upcoming assembly polls. “Your vote is valuable; you should not give it away aimlessly, the way you have been doing over the past more than seventy years.”
“The traditional political parties and their leaders, who have been at the helm of affairs in Jammu and Kashmir for years and decades by dint of your votes, have actually been deceiving you through emotional slogans and fake promises. All these years, they are misleading you on the name of things like the so-called ‘plebiscite movement’, ‘autonomy’, ‘self-rule’, and so on,” Bukhari said.
“Now, they are trying to allure you by saying that they will bring the abrogated Article 370 back. You must be alert and not allow these conventional politicians to exploit you anymore,” he said.
While reiterating Apni Party’s agenda, and explaining its vision for J&K’s future, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said, “We want a dignified and prosperous life for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and only economic empowerment will pave the way for the dignity and prosperity of the people. Also, economic empowerment will eventually fetch us the required political empowerment. Therefore, Apni Party, if given the mandate to form a Govt here, will focus on the economic empowerment of J&K people.”
“We have a clear vision and unambiguous agenda for J&K people, who have been grappling with a protracted conflict, bloodshed, and destruction here for quite a long time. Our people are wounded and in dire need of some solace. I promise you that Apni Party will do everything to change the scenario for good,” he added.
On this occasion, Apni Party’s Senior Vice President and former Cabinet Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir said that J&K people need a clear-cut direction to move on and prosper. “There is no doubt that August 5, 2019 occurrences were catastrophic for J&K people, but we have to move on for the sake of a better future. When someone’s house gets burned to ashes, he finds only two options: either just keep shedding tears without doing anything about it or rising to rebuild the house. Similarly, J&K people too have only two options: either keep crying over what happened on August 5 in 2019, or stand up and move on with larger goals to ensure a better future.”
“I would suggest that we should stand and start fresh. I assure you that Apni Party will lead you to a better future,” he added.
Mir cautioned people not to fall into the trap of traditional parties. He said, “These traditional leaders will come to you and try to convince you that they will get Article 370 and Article 35 A back. But you must not forget that they are the same people who came to you at the time of the parliament elections and sought your votes promising that they will protect these Articles in the parliament. Could they save it there? They are the same people who allured you on the name of the so-called ‘plebiscite movement’ for 23 long years and finally buried this slogan for the sake of power.”
