Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 13: Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari has said that New Delhi too is responsible for encouraging dynasty politics in Jammu and Kashmir in the past; the political families, to attain power and remain in power, kept people busy with unachievable goals and emotional slogans here.
Addressing a workers’ convention at Qamaria Ground in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district today, Bukhari blamed conventional mainstream political parties for creating a mess in Jammu and Kashmir over the years, by setting unachievable goals for the people.
He said for the past more than 70 years, the traditional political parties belonging to certain families have been playing with the emotions of the common people to remain in power here. The power-hungry politicians also kept changing their narratives with the passage of time. First, they befooled people on the name of the so-called plebiscite front for more than two decades, and later, buried the same ‘movement’ for the sake of power in 1975. Then, they vowed that they will get things like autonomy and self-rule for Jammu and Kashmir. Later, they started harping on that they are protectors of Article 370 and 35-A. Now, the same politicians are trying to exploit people and gain electoral benefits by saying that they will get the Article 370 abrogated,” Bukhari remarked.
“These ruthless politicians never meant what they said. They only wanted to get a hold on power and create riches for their families. And, even now, their only goal is to attain power,” Bhukhari added. “Why did they bury the so-called plebiscite movement, if they were sincere about it? Why did they not try to get promised ‘autonomy’ for J&K even after having a two-thirds majority in the Assembly in the 1996 elections ? Why did they not raise their voice against August 5, 2019 occurrences even after holding all the three Parliament seats from the Valley?” he asked.
Party senior vice president Ghulam Hassan Mir taking a dig at the traditional political parties, said, “These parties made innocent people sacrifice and suffer for years in the name of unachievable goals and emotional slogans. We got lakhs of people either jailed or buried in the graveyards over the years only because of the misleading politics of the traditional parties and their leaders.”
Urging people to use their vote wisely in the forthcoming elections, Mir said, “You must understand that those who have been deceiving you for years and decades cannot be your well-wishers. You must elect the representatives who are among you.”
Party’s Provincial president, Kashmir, Mohammad Ashraf Mir also addressed the gathering and asserted that Apni Party has a clear vision about the better future of Jammu and Kashmir.
Follow our WhatsApp channel