Former PDP leader Bukhari floats new political outfit

Srinagar: Former PDP leader Altaf Bukhari on Sunday launched the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party here as he vowed to work towards restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and ensure domicile rights of people in jobs and education, while saying demoting the state to a Union territory was “unpleasant and bitter”.

The 60-year-old announced the formation of the JKAP at his residence and was flanked by former MLAs and senior leaders of political parties like the National Conference, the PDP, the Congress and the BJP, besides some former Independent legislators.

He was elected president of the JKAP unanimously.

Bukhari said the new party was an outfit “of the commoners, by the commoners and for the commoners”.

It is a bare fact that the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been passing through tough times since 1990, leading to an unprecedented scenario of death and destruction in the region, he said.

“However, the developments which took place on August 5, 2019, brought some new questions and realities to the fore,” Bukhari said, adding that in “an unknown and unimagined situation in the 70-year-long history of free India, a full-fledged state, enjoying an enviable position among its sister states, was demoted to a Union territory”.

On August 5 last year, the Centre withdrew special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into two UTs – Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The UTs territories came into existence on October 31 last year.

“Though unpleasant and bitter, it is an undeniable reality that the developments which took place in August 2019, particularly the deprivation of statehood, have badly affected the self-esteem, pride and confidence of the people across Jammu and Kashmir,” Bukhari said. Bukhari, who was a minister in the PDP-BJP government, said the developments have resulted not only in the complete breakdown of political institutions but has also stalled the result oriented and purposeful developmental activities.

“Hence, a sense of aggressive discontentment on one side, and an attitude of complete indifference prevails across Jammu and Kashmir on the other, which at any cost, cannot be left unattended and unaddressed,” the businessman-turned-politician said.

The people have every reason and right to conceive and envision every shade and aspect of a fully developed and civilised democratic society, a society where they can live in harmony and peace, free from discrimination, exploitation and prejudices of any kind or manner under a democratic system, Bukhari said.

“Our people have had huge sacrifices to their credit for nurturing the democratic spirit and an ever evolving political process in the region. Unfortunately, we never witnessed the desired results of our toil and efforts and instead we were failed time and again by a particular vested interest class,” he said.

“The result is that we are in a situation where we should have not been,” the former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister said.

The present circumstances warranted the formation of a new political party comprising those who all along had identified and related themselves to the social needs of multiple factions of society, Bukhari said.

He said that the situation demanded “a party that could respond to rational aspirations of the people without promising them the moon or stars”.