Examiner Bureau | Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Saturday announced that his party will not participate in the National Conference’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, asserting that the Apni Party believes in “reconciliation, not confrontation” while reaffirming its support for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
Addressing a press conference, Bukhari said the Apni Party fully supports the demand for the restoration of statehood but disagrees with the manner in which the protest has been planned.
“We believe in reconciliation and not confrontation because confrontation has ruined us since 1947. We lost the Prime Minister’s post in 1953. Confrontation is not a solution,” Bukhari said.
He stressed that while the National Conference has every democratic right to organise the protest, a broader political consensus would have made the initiative more inclusive and representative.
“If the National Conference had chosen the path of consultation and taken all political parties into confidence, everyone would have supported this protest. We support the demand for the restoration of statehood, but we will not stand with them at the Jantar Mantar protest,” he said.
Bukhari reiterated that the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood remains a shared political objective and urged all stakeholders to pursue the issue through dialogue and consensus rather than political confrontation.
