RAJOURI: Apni Party President, Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari on Friday said tribals and other categorized people were not getting benefits of the Forest Rights Act on the ground in Rajouri although the FRA has been implemented by the Govt in J&K.
“The Forest Rights Act was implemented in Jammu and Kashmir by the Govt to benefit and give land rights to the tribals, and forest dwellers, and their claims were also submitted to the respective committees framed by the concerned administration. However, the people including tribals, and other forest dwellers were not given rights as per the rules,” said Bukhari.
“Instead, they preferred to adopt bulldozer politics and deprive people of their constitutional rights,” he said while addressing a one-day worker’s convention in Taryath in Kalakote, Rajouri district.
Bukhari was concerned over the shabby condition of roads, and the inability of the administration in providing basic amenities to the people in Taryath and other areas in Rajouri.
He said that the poor and marginalized section of society, especially tribals in Rajouri like other parts of Jammu and Kashmir, were dependent upon the state and forest lands for decades. “They made this barren land cultivable and their cattle would use the grazing yards. But they have been barred from grazing their cattle, and a drive on the name encroachment has also been launched.”
“Although the drive was stopped following Apni Party’s intervention as the issue was raised with the Union Govt,” he said that the Govt officials who were involved in evicting people and snatching the shelters and land from the poor will be held accountable if the Apni Party forms Govt in J&K.
He also referred to the seasonal migration and difficulties faced by the tribal people while shifting from summer to winter zone. “The claims that the tribals are provided transportation facilities seem to have failed as the deserving tribal people continue to suffer. The providing of transportation to the tribals for seasonal migrations appears not to be benefiting to the seasonal migration of tribals with their cattle to upper reaches,” he said.
He also demanded that the ration supply in the Govt depots in villages has also stopped and accordingly, the quota of ration per family should be enhanced on the subsidized rates.
He also referred to the issues of mining workers in Kalakote and thermal power projects, while asking the Govt to fulfill the pending demands of the workers as early as possible.
While speaking on the occasion, Apni Party Senior Vice President, Ghulam Hassan Mir said, “The people want a change, development, right to their land, protection to their jobs. The people of J&K are unhappy with the BJP because it abrogated Art 370 and this wound has not healed as yet. When the people were in distress, Altaf Bukhari founded the Apni Party. We did not keep silent like other traditional political parties.”
Mir said that the Apni Party has an agenda of peace, prosperity, and development. “Our enemy is poverty and unemployment. The Apni Party will assure the people that we will eradicate unemployment by providing employment opportunities to the educated youth in both regions,” he said.
