Altaf Bukhari seeks speedy restoration work of Dogra Palace Mubarak Mandi

JAMMU, JULY 19, 2022: Apni Party President Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari today appealed to the Govt to speed up the restoration work of the historic sites particularly Dogra Palace, Mubarak Mandi and promote tourism with a motive to protect the interest of the business community and tourism sector in Jammu.

Altaf Bukhari sahab was speaking at a joining programme which was organized by Women Wing leader, Pavneet Kour. On this occasion, hundreds of women from R.S. Pura among a Sarpanch Ashok Kumar and two Panchs through Pavneet Kour joined the Apni Party in presence of Altaf Bukhari sahab.

While welcoming them into the Party, he hoped that the Party would be strengthened at the grass root level in Jammu and asked the leaders as well as workers to work among the people for the redressal of their issues.He appreciated the women wing of Apni Party for their work. While welcoming the scores of women who joined the Party, he said that, “Apni Party supports empowerment of women politically, socially, economically and educationally. We have provided a platform to the women leaders to work for the welfare of women folk.”

He also said that they support 33 % political reservation in legislative assembly and in Parliament.

He said that “If we come to power, we will give Rs 1 lakhs as marriage assistance to the poor and needy girls, will enhance widow pension /old age pension up to Rs 5000 and will ensure 4 cooking gas cylinders in a year under Ujjwala scheme.”

He said that “Apni Party will work for the protection of the rights of women.”

Meanwhile, referring to the issues faced by the people of Jammu in absence of an elected Govt, he said that Jammu has become a victim of divisive campaigns launched by the traditional political parties especially BJP which has ultimately hit the development, business and tourism sector.

The development never remained on the agenda of traditional political parties,” he said and appealed to the people to extend support to Apni Party for equitable development Jammu and Kashmir regions without any discrimination.

“It is due to the negligence and failure of BJP that Jammu has suffered the most with regard to tourism, and business. The tourism sites were hardly promoted at the national level as a result of which the tourism industry and its related trades suffered losses in the last several years in comparison to the past,” he said.

He said that the historic Dogra Palace Mubarak Mandi is still being renovated at a very slow pace of work for the last many years and the artificial lake project has yet to see light of the day in Jammu.

“If Apni Party comes to power, it will hold a probe as to why the renovation work of Mubarak Mandi Complex was delayed for years and why Jammu tourism was not promoted,” he said.

On the other hand, he said that, “The situation is no different in other districts of Jammu province.”

“We have learnt that tenders were allotted to the outsiders permitting them to work in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts. The local population associated with the construction work as contractors and extraction of natural resources have become unemployed. A sand mafia is active in Jammu and Kashmir with the support of bureaucracy and it has snatched the rights of the locals on natural resources and other trades. If we come to power, we will throw the outsiders out of Lakhanpur. Apni Party is committed to protect the rights of Jammu as well as Kashmir at any cost,” he said.

On a vicious campaign of a political party in Jammu seeking separate Statehood for Jammu, he said, “Jammu and Kashmir Regions cannot be separated from each other. The people of both the Regions have cordial relations and both are inter-dependent from centuries. The attempt to create division to further an agenda will be countered with the involvement of people from both the Regions. Apni Party strongly opposes further division of J&K.”

Prominent among those who were present in the joining programme include senior Vice President Ghulam Hassan Mir, Chairman Parliamentary Board, Dilawar Mir, Provincial President Jammu, Manjit Singh, Provincial Vice President Ex-MLA Faqir Nath, Additional General Secretary Arun Chibber, Spokesperson Sr Adv Nirmal Kotwal, Provincial Secretary / District President Urban Jammu, Dr Rohit Gupta, SC State Coordinator Bodh Raj Bhagat, President, Apni Trade Union, Ajaz Kazmi, President Kandi (Bani-Basohli), Yasar Choudhary, Additional Spokesperson, Kushbhoo Bhagat, State Vice President Youth Wing, Raqeeq Ahmed Khan, Provincial President Youth Wing Jammu, Vipul Bali, District Vice President Jammu Urban, Vaibhav Mattoo, District President Youth Wing, Shivam Choudhary, Provincial Secretary, Vishal Jotshi, District Secretary, Ashraf Choudhary, Senior Vice President District Youth Wing, Sandeep Vaid, District Secretary Youth Wing, Ankush Dogra, and others.