‘Gupkar declaration’ signatories remained confused for months, says Altaf Bukhari
Arun Joshi
Tribune News Service
Jammu, August 26
In his first comments on the reiteration of the ‘Gupkar declaration’ statement by six parties in Kashmir, Jammu Kashmir Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said, “It was not an overnight development,” as these groups were grappling with confusion over the months, now somewhat they have “removed the ambiguity”.
Altaf Bukhari, who founded the first-ever political party in the post-August 5 era, however, reiterated that as far the Apni Party’s concern on the restoration of the special status was there, “the matter is with the Supreme Court. We will honour and respect the verdict of the apex court as and when it comes,” he told The Tribune in an interview on Wednesday.
“We can only hope and pray that the verdict of the apex court be as per the hopes and aspirations of the people of J&K,” he said metaphorically.
Right now, his party is focused on the restoration of the statehood, as currently J&K is a Union territory sans Ladakh, which sits as another UT on the map of the erstwhile state.
On August 22 joint statement of the parties like NC, PDP, PC, Congress, CPM and Awami National Conference, Bukhari said, For the past five months they were unclear in their approach and lackadaisical in weighing their options, but now the difference is that to a large extent, they have removed the ambiguity.”
Altaf Bukhari said, “There is no question of clash of sorts in electoral politics. In electoral politics different parties have different ideas and agendas.” He insisted that “the JKAP has from day one made it publicly clear that we will not sell dreams to people but ours would be a pragmatic approach to deal with socio-economic and political issues faced by the people of J&K. This realistic approach forms our political conviction and is the bedrock of the JKAP”.
Regarding delimitation and polls, Bukhari stated it emphatically, “Let me assure you that we will not allow anybody a walkover. I believe that the functioning of the Delimitation Commission should be fair and transparent and if the number of seats of Assembly or parliamentary segments is to be increased the same should be carried out rationally and not thrust on people in an arbitrary manner.”
“As far as the election process is concerned, the JKAP’s stand is that elections in J&K should not wait for completion of the delimitation process. I think the seven seats likely to be carved out by the Delimitation Commission can be temporarily filled on nomination basis and the same should not be used as a justification for delay in elections in J&K. We believe elections are the only answer to the current situation in J&K,” he said.
He claimed that “our party is ready for the elections. We believe that many problems can be solved after a popular government is formed in the J&K, including the critical issues of amendments to recently issued domicile rules on jobs. There is no alternative to the democratic setup and as we see, presently, there is a huge disconnect between the people and apparatus of governance in J&K. This can be addressed only by holding elections at the earliest”.
Bukhari has a simple formula for repairing ties between Srinagar and Delhi and that is: “In any conflict-ridden zone in the world, truth becomes the first and worst causality. Though truth is bitter but speaking it bluntly can address the trust deficit. We should not show stars and moon to the people and speak truth and similarly Delhi also needs to go in for introspection and take a firm stand on issues like human rights violations, which are of critical importance for the people of J&K. Both the sides need to be sincere and true in their approach which can improve the deteriorated relationship.”
