Not against restoration of Article 370, says Altaf Bukhari

SRINAGAR — Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) President, Altaf Bukhari on Saturday said that they are not against the restoration of Article 370.

“We will be happy if this Article gets restored but at the same time, we believe that only Supreme Court can do it and that is why we like other parties don’t want to sell dreams,” he said on the sidelines of a political function held at his Srinagar based residence.

Accepting the reality of scrapping Article 370 by the Central Government, Bukhari said that those political parties which claim that they will get the Article revoked are playing politics and befooling people.

“As I said that only Supreme Court can do it. Yes, Parliament can do it as well but for that reason, we need majority that we don’t have,” Bukhari said, adding that Apni Party will be happy if Article 370 is restored and they are not against its revocation.

In response to a question, Bukhari said that protection of domicile rights of job and land is the core agenda of his party.

“We won’t give an inch of land to any outsiders. People both in Kashmir and Jammu are on same page and there is no confrontation at all. People in both Kashmir and Jammu want protection of jobs and land,” he said.

While responding to another question, Bukhari said that “one builds a new house once older one gets damaged in fire. We have to move ahead and address the problems of people. We want elections should take place at an earliest,” he said, adding that it is up to Government of India.

“We’re not here to sell dreams and fantasies but are honest and fair in our approach. We are serving people who are facing multiple problems,” he said.