SRINAGAR: The Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari on Sunday accused the Omar Abdullah government of allowing non-locals to acquire land in the Valley despite domicile laws in the union territory.
Addressing a party workers’ meeting at Natipora in uptown Srinagar, Bukhari alleged that a Mumbai-based businessman named Chawla has been allowed to purchase land at Syedpora on the outskirts of Srinagar for a hotel project.
“Chief Minister Omar Abdullah should give an answer as to who allowed Mumbai-based Chawla to purchase land for a hotel in Syedpora on the outskirts of Srinagar. Who gave land to him?” he asked. He also alleged that a Delhi-based company was allowed to acquire 150 kanals of land in the Chattergam area of Hazratbal.
The Apni Party chief urged the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), also known as the National Conference (NC), to stop such activities, warning that his party would identify those involved and publicly raise the issue.
“The domicile laws are there in J&K, and such activities are not permissible under the existing domicile laws,” he said, calling for clarification from the government over the alleged transactions.
“If this robbery is taking place, it is taking place due to the NC government. If anybody is thinking of making demographic change, the NC will be responsible for it,” Bukhari said.
“I urge them to stop this. If they do not stop it, we will be forced to take names one by one and go to all those places. We will gather people of Jammu and Kashmir there and expose the elements who are doing all this,” he said.
Bukhari also targeted the JKNC over its resolution in the Assembly seeking restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, describing it as a “drama”.
“They will first sell the land here to their friends and others and then will claim restoration (of statehood). What will happen then?” he asked.
On people voting for JKNC, the Apni Party President said, “You voted for NC, believing its promises that it would ensure restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and restoration of statehood. But you forgot the history of the party’s deceptive promises, which it has been making to the people for decades to secure votes and attain power.”
Referring to the JKNC’s political history, Bukhari said, “In 1953, the party raised the slogan of ‘Raishumari’ (plebiscite) but eventually ended up accepting the chief minister’s chair in 1975 with the support of the very same Congress whose leaders the NC had once derogatorily described as “cockroaches from the sewer”."
"In 2000, it passed a resolution in the Assembly seeking greater autonomy but later did not pursue it. Even after returning to power in 2009, the NC government did not take any initiative to pursue the autonomy demand because it was never serious about the demand. It was merely a slogan to secure votes," Bukhari said.
Bukhari further alleged that the JKNC government’s tenure from 2009 to 2014 was marked by violence and loss of life in the UT.