Altaf Bukhari joins Engineer Rashid in push for dialogue

Srinagar, Sep 13: Seconding Engineer Rashid’s advocacy of dialogue, Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari Friday said that if the Centre could engage in dialogue with the people of northeastern states, what stops them from initiating talks with the people of J&K?

Bukhari said that there was an urgent need to address the lingering issues of Kashmir and voiced optimism that the upcoming elected government in J&K would take steps toward reconciliation.

“Engineer Rashid did not say anything wrong. I second him and there must be dialogue,” he told reporters during the election campaign here in Channapora. “If the Centre is holding dialogue and peace accords in other states, why not in J&K.”

He said that constructive dialogue would be the cornerstone of his party’s agenda if they came to power.

“I firmly believe in a peaceful resolution of long-standing issues,” Bukhari said.

He called for discussions on these stringent laws, which have been criticised for their use in J&K.

Bukhari’s party is advocating for reviewing and easing the application of these laws to foster a sense of justice and reduce the perception of alienation among the people.

One of the major points of his news conference was the promise of “general amnesty” for the youth currently detained under various charges.

“It is time to rehabilitate rather than penalise the younger generation, many of whom have been incarcerated for minor charged offences,” he said.

“There is a need to talk about the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which have affected so many lives in J&K. We want to provide a path to rehabilitation rather than punishment,” Bukhari said.

On whether the recent release of Rashid would affect the Apni Party’s prospects in the upcoming assembly polls, he said that everyone was presenting their manifesto, and they had the right to reach out to people.

“The results will speak for themselves when the time comes,” Bukhari said.

Bukhari launched a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and accused them of compromising J&K’s interests by aligning with New Delhi without any consultation.

“I want to ask the Abdullahs, who offered J&K to New Delhi without consulting the people of the region? It was the NC, led by them, that extended their hand to New Delhi in 1947,” Bukhari said without mincing words, calling both the NC and the PDP “real proxies of New Delhi”.

He accused them of betraying the mandate of the people of J&K and benefiting politically from their alliances with the central government.

“NC received its rewards in the form of the chief minister's chair, and later, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti was also given the same post," Bukhari alleged, questioning how these parties could now accuse others of being proxies of New Delhi. “They declare anyone who challenges them as proxies of New Delhi, but they were the ones who made the first moves.”

Responding to a query about Omar Abdullah’s recent comments against Rashid, he said that he does not accept whatever Abdullah had said about Rashid.

“NC and PDP have a habit of labelling anyone who opposes them as agents of New Delhi,” he said.

Bukhari said that “these parties had always falsely labelled their political opponents as ‘proxies’ of the Centre or the ruling parties, merely to defame them.

“Even the PDP, when established in 1989, was believed to have the patronage of then Minister of Home Affairs L K Advani. It was often referred to as Advani’s party,” he said.