Senior PDP leader and former finance minister Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari on Wednesday ridiculed the remarks made by BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and spokesman Brig. Anil Gupta asking the PDP to reconsider its decision of boycotting upcoming municipal and Panchayat polls.
In a statement issued here, Bukhari said that Madhav is well aware of his own party leadership which displayed an utter “disregard” to elected representatives and “dishonored” democratic institution like legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Objectives of devolution of powers can’t be achieved at a time when people of Jammu and Kashmir are fraught with efforts being made to muzzle their special political identity by fiddling with Article 35-A and other rights guaranteed under the constitution,” Bukhari said.
“After subverting the democratic process by showing scant regard for an elected government, BJP is now trying to scratch the wounded psyche of people by pushing them for untimely municipal and Panchayat elections,” Bukhari observed.
He said the situation in Kashmir could have been entirely different, if the central government would have implemented its agenda of alliance and fulfilled its publicly announced promises like immediate introduction of confidence building measures and initiating a comprehensive dialogue with all stakeholders in the Valley. “Unfortunately, the BJP didn’t weigh the risks of dishonouring democracy in J&K and never tried to draw lessons from a history that has witnessed the subversion of democratic institutions and popular elected representatives at a grave cost to the State and the interests of its people,” he added.
Reacting sharply to the statement of Bukhari, Bharatiya Janata Party accused Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference of using Article 35A to “blackmail the Centre as they fear that there is a common threat to the concept of dynasty rule in Jammu and Kashmir.”
BJP’s state spokesperson Khalid Jehangir in a statement said that PDP and NC should introspect rather than indulging in mere rehtoric.