Says, government must pay keen attention to bridging the development deficit in border areas
JK News Today
Srinagar, July 17: Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Friday said there is an immediate need “to reform the health and education sectors to benefit people living in remote areas across Jammu and Kashmir.”
He said that “these areas lack even basic infrastructure and adequate professional manpower in the health and education sectors, resulting in immense hardship for the people.”
He said that the “qualified doctors and teachers must be appointed and required to serve in these remote areas for a specified period, ensuring they do not leave immediately after securing government jobs.”
He stressed that achieving this would require long-term planning and concrete measures to strengthen essential services in underserved regions.
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, who is on an outreach tour of the Pir Panjal region along with the party’s Senior Vice President Ghulam Hassan Mir and other senior colleagues, was addressing a gathering of party workers today at the Dak Bungalow in Surankote, Poonch. This meeting was organised by party’s Zonal President Surankote Massarat Hayat Malik, and others.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that over the past five days in the Pir Panjal region, he has been receiving first-hand feedback from the people, political workers, and activists about the pressing public issues and grievances in these areas.
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukahri said that he was informed that the centre did not provide safety bunkers to the resident of border areas as was promised.
He said, “We have seen last year how vulnerable the people in these border areas are, as they fall prey to bullets and shelling from across the border. The Central Government had committed to ensuring the timely construction of community and individual bunkers wherever they are lacking. Unfortunately, this commitment has not been fulfilled.”
He added, “I urge the Central Government to take immediate measures to ensure that the people living in these border areas receive these bunkers without any further delay.”
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said that “Jammu and Kashmir became an integral part of India in 1947, since then it is destined to be a permeant part of the country and this cannot be changed. However, he said that the Apni Party would ensure that New Delhi restores all the constitutional rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and effectively addresses their pressing issues and grievances.”
He said that whatever happened on August 5, 2019, was deeply painful and a great injustice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Referring to his and his party colleagues’ meeting with the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister in New Delhi, held months after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said, “In those difficult times, we met the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Hon’ble Union Home Minister and told them directly that since they had abrogated Articles 370 and 35A, the people of Jammu and Kashmir were now apprehensive that they might even lose the region’s demographic character, changing its Muslim-majority identity. We urged them to publicly assure the people that nothing of that sort would happen, and they did so.”
He said that there is a pressing need “for constructive engagement and meaningful dialogue between New Delhi and the people of Jammu and Kashmir to bridge the prevailing trust deficit.”
He said that “Apni Party will strive to ensure that the youth who were misled by some politicians in the past, leading them down the path of violence and destruction, are rehabilitated so that they can live dignified lives ahead.”
Speaking on the occasion, Ghulam Hassan Mir expressed grave concern that the government is doing nothing to ensure a better future for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said, “Our educated youth are our greatest asset, but unfortunately they are forced to grapple with the miseries caused by unemployment, and the government is doing nothing to create employment opportunities for them.”
He went on to say, “We have already lost decades to violence and the path of destruction, as our youth were misled and directed onto a path that led many of them to jails and graveyards. Those decades could have been spent on the development and growth of Jammu and Kashmir. But we cannot afford any further delay. Concrete steps need to be taken to ensure that our youth, who are our greatest asset, are guided in the right direction and provided with adequate employment opportunities so that they can live their lives with prosperity and dignity.”
“Apni Party’s agenda and policies are aimed at leading the people, especially the youth, on the path of peace, prosperity, and development so that there are no further deaths, detentions, or destruction, and the people can live peaceful and dignified lives,” Mir added.
Speaking on the occasion, the party’s Provincial President, Manjit Singh, appealed to the people to support the Apni Party and strengthen it further so that it can effectively implement its pro-people agenda and policies.
He said, “It is an undeniable fact that following the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, when the people of Jammu and Kashmir had also lost their exclusive rights to land and government jobs, it was the Apni Party that convinced New Delhi to restore those rights. That was one of the party’s most significant contributions during those testing times.”
He added, “I urge you to support this party so that it can go further in protecting the rights of the people. Make this party stronger by extending your full support.”
Besides Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari , Ghulam Hassan Mir and Manjit Singh, the other prominent party leaders who were present on the occasion included Senior Vice President Jammu Province Shah Mohammad Tantray, State President SC Wing Bodraj Baghat, Provincial Vice President Jammu & Vice Chairman ST wing Jammu Province Saleem Chowdary, State President Kissan Wing Badrinath Sharma, Spokesperson Raqik Ahmad Khan, General Secretary Poonch Surjan Singh, Zonal President Surankote Massarat Hayat Malik, and others.
