JAMMU: The president of the Apni Party, Altaf Bukhari, stated that his party’s main goal is for Jammu and Kashmir to recognise Punjabi as one of its official languages. “We plan to officially recognise Punjabi as one of Jammu and Kashmir’s official languages. At a joining programme in Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, Bukhari stated, “The language has a huge contribution and is spoken by people from all the communities in most regions of Jammu and Kashmir.” The event was planned by the party’s women’s wing and Jammu provincial president Pavneet Kour. Prominent Sikh Community social activist Inderpal Singh joined the Apni Party in the presence of the party president, along with his supporters Surinder Singh, Ranjit Singh, Bila Pardan, Paramjit Singh, Bachan Kumar, Ajit Singh, and others. Bukhari welcomed them into the fold of the party. Speaking at the event, Bukhari promised that the Party will address the problems facing the Sikh community and that no one would be left to suffer in silence. He told the newcomers and other Sikh community leaders that it is their first priority to recognise Punjabi language as one of the official languages in Jammu and Kashmir, alluding to the demand for its recognition. He reminisced about the literary and cultural contributions made by the language of Jammu and Kashmir. Additionally, he pleaded with the government to ensure that representatives of the Sikh community from every area were represented in the Legislative Assembly. “Apni Party is committed to work for all the communities for their social, economic, and political upliftment by providing them equal representation,” he stated. In addition to other languages, he pleaded with parents to educate their kids Punjabi so that it might be revitalised in accordance with community wishes. According to Bukhari, UT is suffering from power outages. After the severe winter, more electricity needs to be purchased for the Jammu and Kashmir areas in order to satisfy the increasing demand. He declared that the Apni Party is determined to carry on the fight for statehood and asked that Jammu and Kashmir hold assembly elections. Prominent party figures in attendance included Dr. Rohit Gupta, Ajaz Kazmi, Abhay Bakaya, Faqir Nath, Prem Lal, Shafi Sheikh, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Usman Majeed, Vijay Bakaya, Manjit Singh, and others.
