Srinagar, April 27 (KNS): Apni Party President, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, on Saturday, said that the regional parties and their leaders established their own form of monarchy in Jammu and Kashmir after the end of Maharaja’s rule in 1947.

He asserted that those who continued to propagate provocative and misleading slogans like ‘Raishumari,’ ‘Autonomy’, and ‘Self-rule’ even after J&K’s accession with the country have damaged the interests of the people of this land.

Mr. Bukhari made these comments while addressing an event at the party headquarters today. The event was aimed at welcoming the new members including prominent citizens and political workers from Charar-i-Sharief, and Ganderbal, into the party fold.

The new members from Charar-i-Sharief included Advocate Owais Ashraf Shah, Advocate Syed Arslan, Advocate Riyaz Ahmad, Advocate Shabir Nurani, Advocate Muzaffar Qasim, Rayees Ahmad Sofi, Muzaffar Ahmad Mir, Gulzar Ahmad Musa, and their teams.

The new entrants from the Ganderbal district included Peer Farooq Ahmad Farooqi, Irfan Farooqi, Syed Abdul Rashid Baba, Peerzada Zahoor Ahmad, Mohammad Masroor Farooqi, Mohammad Mumin Farooqi, Farooq Ahmad Kumar, and others.

Party's State Convenor and in-charge of Ganderbal district Haji Parvez Ahmad Bhat had organised this event.

Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, along with other senior party leaders gave a warm welcome to the news members.

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said, “I wholeheartedly welcome you to the Apni Party. This party’s agenda and policies are rooted in the politics of truthfulness and integrity of its leaders. We do not believe in deceptive narratives and fake promises for gaining political advantages.”

Taking a dig at the traditional parties he said, “We had the chance to decide the future of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, and the leadership at that time decided to accede with India. After this decision, whoever raised emotional slogans like ‘Raishumari’, ‘Autonomy’, and ‘Self-rule’ during the past seventy years were the enemies of the people. Unfortunately, the regional parties and their leaders used innocent people as cannon fodder through such emotional and provocative slogans. For their own political gains, these parties and leaders made our youth scapegoats by misleading them through deceptive narratives.”

He went on to say, “These parties and their leaders led our youth down the path of destruction. Over the past three decades, we have tragically lost thousands of our youngsters. Thousands of our young people ended up either in jails or in graveyards.”

Besides Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, the prominent party leaders who were present on the occasion included Chairman of the party’s Parliamentary Affairs Committee Mohammad Dilawar Mir, Vice President Usman Majid, Media Advisor Farooq Andrabi, Provincial Secretary Kashmir Syed Najeeb Naqvi, Provincial President of the party’s ST Wing Rafiq Ahmad Balote, Party in-charge for the Charar-i-Sharief constituency Mushtaq Zuhami, Youth President from the Uri Constituency Shajad Ahmad Sheikh, Bashir Khanday, and others.(KNS)