JAMMU: If the Apni Party is elected to power in Jammu and Kashmir, its president, Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari, has promised that his party will address all outstanding issues pertaining to displaced people (DPs). The Provincial Presidents of the Apni Party’s Youth Wing, Vipul Bali, and Women Wing, Jammu, Pavneet Kour, arranged a meeting for DPs at the Apni Party office in Gandhi Nagar. Participants in the meeting included Provincial President of Jammu, S. Manjit Singh, General Secretary Vijay Bakaya, and Senior Vice President of the Apni Party, Ghulam Hassan Mir. Present at the conference was Apni Party President Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari, with whom the DPs and their leaders brought up difficulties that they had faced over the past few decades.After learning about their long-standing problems, Altaf Bukhari gave his word that his party, should it win an election in Jammu and Kashmir, would find a solution. “The previous governments ought to have addressed the problems of the DPs. But for the past few decades, the established political parties have ignored the sincere requests of the DPs,” he stated. He expressed his compassion for the DPs’ predicament and his desire to see them elevated on all fronts—social, economic, political, and educational—while extending his support to their just cause.“We support the displaced people and their requests for the release of the government’s approved package that is still pending, as well as employment and educational accommodations for their children,” he stated, citing the demands made by S. Manjit Singh, the provincial president of the Apni Party in Jammu, the provincial president of the Jammu Youth Wing, and the provincial president of the Jammu Women Wing, Pavneet Kour. According to him, these displaced people moved to the Jammu region’s border regions after abandoning their homes and agricultural land due to a variety of factors. He praised the DPs leaders for their fight for their justifiable demands and stated, “The DPs are the first line of defence on the borders and they have given their sacrifices.” The President of the Apni Party, citing the demands of the DPs, also asked for an immediate and expedited recruitment procedure for unemployed, educated youth in the Indian Army, J&K Police, and Paramilitary Forces for the DPs and other Jammu and Kashmir border inhabitants. He emphasised once more that, in contrast to other conventional political parties that seek to maximise their support base, the Apni Party has always advocated on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He claimed that after August 5, 2019, the Apni Party was the one to safeguard the land and jobs held by the people of Jammu and Kashmir while others were unwilling to fight back. Ghulam Hassan Mir, Senior Vice President of the Apni Party, stated that the DPs’ problems remained unresolved and that politicians were only using them as vote banks. “Different groups of individuals have different problems that need to be solved in order to meet the goals of the parties involved. Due to a lack of other obligations, the traditional political parties were unwilling to address the concerns of DPs. As a result, they postponed the issues’ settlement for seven decades,” Mir claimed. If someone wanted to address the DPs issue, he indicated there was nothing that could not be done. S. Manjit Singh, the provincial president of the Apni Party in Jammu, earlier claimed that the displaced people were uprooted as a result of the wars between India and Pakistan in 1947, 1965, and 1971, respectively. “After leaving our homes and land, we were uprooted. Here, the government distributed land in the border region between Kathua and Poonch but encountered ongoing difficulties. Though some of us were sent to live with family, the government placed us in camps. The majority of victims are people who visited their relatives’ homes. However, there was an imbalance in the distribution of land. After we were disregarded, the DPs became agitated. While the DPs were asking a compensation worth Rs 30 lakhs, it forced the government to release an economic package worth Rs 25 lakhs,” he stated. He stated that although the package was referred to as a one-time settlement because it gave the DPs Rs 5.5 lakhs, they were only given one installment. He insisted on receiving the DPs’ outstanding package. He claimed that because the DPs lack revenue villages, they are not able to take advantage of village-level employment opportunities. He also insisted on the resolution of their long-standing requests. He berated political parties for their strategy of postponement. “No representation was provided to us. Our spaces are not for use by others. He demanded political reservation for DPs, saying, “We have no political voice.” He insisted that the government grant the DPs ownership rights to the land and an employment package. Additionally, Vipul Bali and Pavneet Kour gave speeches on the occasion. Faqir Nath, Arun Chibber, Mohd Shafi, Rohit Gupta, Bodh Raj Bhagat, Ajaz Kazmi, Raqeeq Ahmed Khan, Abhay Bakaya, Adv Harpreet Singh, Raman Thappa, Sahil Bharti, Brij Mohan Dutta, Bachan Choudhary, Tirth Singh, Devinder Gill, Yash Choudhary, Vaibhav Mattoo, Rakesh Mahajan, Shakti Dutta, Vishal Jotshi, Suhail Khajuria, Shivam Choudhary, Rashid Pal, Gulshan Anand, Sunil Sharma, Sheetal Sharma, Neelam Gupta, Shweta Devi, Monika Gill, Vicky Sudan, Nanak Choudhary, Ankush Dogra, and others were present.
