Traditional parties kept people busy with deceptive narratives: Altaf Bukhari

Srinagar, Feb 3: Taking a dig at Jammu and Kashmir’s traditional political parties for their deceptive slogans and narratives, the Apni Party President, on Saturday, said that these parties have been deceiving the people for over seven decades with their false promises. He asserted that parties like the NC and PDP kept people busy with deceptive slogans such as ‘Raishumari’, ‘Autonomy’, and ‘Self-rule’ only to attain and retain power for themselves.
He made these comments during a special event at the party headquarters in Srinagar today. The event was organised to welcome Abdul Hameed, the PDP Zonal President from Hazrabal Constituency, along with his associates, into the Apni Party fold.
On this occasion, the Apni Party president extended a warm welcome to the new entrants and assured them that, unlike the traditional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, the Apni Party is committed to serving the people irrespective of their caste, creed, political ideologies, regional backgrounds, or religious affiliations.
In a critical remark aimed at traditional parties such as the NC and PDP, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said, “Over the past seven decades, these traditional parties kept people busy with deceptive narratives like raishumari, autonomy, and self-rule, only to attain power and create empires for themselves. These alluring slogans were nothing but deception to innocent people.”
“Even I personally fell prey to NC’s deception, as I supported the party during the parliamentary elections in 2019 when it claimed that its elected representatives would safeguard Article 370 in the parliament. Then I was utterly surprised and shocked to observe that following the abrogation of this article on August 5, 2019, NC parliament members remained silent and took no action to prevent the abrogation. They didn’t even bother to resign to protest the government’s move. This party has always fooled people through fake promises and deceptive slogans. Similarly, the PDP leadership also established their family rule here, alluring people through slogans like self-rule and so on,” he added.
He went on to say, “Over the past three decades, these parties have unleashed terror on the people to suppress dissent. One of these parties established entities like the Task Force, while others supervised the indiscriminate use of pellet guns on our youth. The misleading political narratives propagated by these parties have led to the imprisonment or burial of countless young people over the past three decades.”
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari urged people not to fall prey to the deception by these parties any further. He said, “Enough is enough. It’s time to reject these parties and refuse to fall prey to their deception any longer.”
He added, “In the upcoming elections, these parties will shamelessly approach the people again with their fake promises. However, this time, people must reject these parties, as they have damaged the interests of the people to the core. Keeping these parties away from power will be like performing a jihad, as these parties are hell-bent on continuing their deceptive politics for their own interests.”
“The traditional parties, especially the two of them — NC and PDP, are two sides of the same coin. Sometimes they seem like political opponents to each other, but when the situation suits them, they become hand in glove and scratch each other’s backs for their mutual political dividends, he further added.
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari promised that the Apni Party would leave no stone unturned in protecting the democratic rights of the people.
He said, “We are here with a clear vision and an unambiguous agenda. We are dedicated to ensuring permanent peace, enduring prosperity, and equivalent development in Jammu and Kashmir, besides the protection of the democratic rights of the people.”
“Apni Party was established to stand with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who were in great despair at that time. This party was not created to attain power for its leaders but to stand with the people in their tough times, and we will always be on the side of the people,” he added.