Moving court hurt statehood return: Altaf Bukhari

Srinagar, Aug 15: Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari on Friday said that taking statehood to the Supreme Court had complicated the issue.

“The statehood issue should not have been taken to the Supreme Court. It should have been resolved politically, as it is a political matter, not a legal battle,” Bukhari said on the sidelines of a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Apni Party headquarters in Srinagar.

He questioned the identity and credibility of those who approached the Apex Court with a petition seeking the restoration of statehood.

“They might be from the same political parties who had also taken the matter of Article 370 and Article 35-A to court, challenging their abrogation, which ultimately resulted in the court upholding the abrogation decision,” Bukhari said.

He said, “First of all, we don’t know who approached the Supreme Court with the petition seeking the restoration of statehood. It is a political matter and should be resolved politically, not in court. Unfortunately, it often happens that whenever someone takes matters of a political nature to the Supreme Court, it causes damage to our interests. The same happened in the case of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, where the Supreme Court eventually upheld the decision to abrogate these articles.”

Bukhari said, “It seems that the same political parties, or their workers, are behind the move to take the statehood matter to the Supreme Court. They had also, unwisely, approached the court over the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.”

He promised that the Apni Party would expose those who frequently approach the courts with political issues, thereby making them more complicated and causing damage to the interests of the people of J&K.

He urged the J&K government and the central government to verify the identity and credentials of those who have approached the Supreme Court over the matter of statehood.