BJP, Cong 2 sides of same coin: Apni Party’s Syed Altaf Bukhari

Jammu, Nov 28 (PTI) Asserting that the role of the Congress was the “worse” than any other party that ruled Jammu and Kashmir, Apni Party Chief Syed Altaf Bukhari said on Tuesday that the grand old party and the BJP are two sides of the same coin.

Referring to the slapping of charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on students arrested for allegedly cheering Australia’s triumph in the recently-concluded cricket World Cup, Bukhari said while the students did make a mistake, such a severe punishment is not advisable as they are children who, at times, make such mistakes.

“The BJP and the Congress are two sides of the same coin. When they scrapped Article 370 (of the Constitution), both parties were on the same page. Both had the same point of view during the discussion in Parliament,” he told reporters here.

Replying to a question on the Congress’s charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the site of a tunnel in Uttarakhand, where 41 workers were rescued on Tuesday, once cameras are in place, Bukhari said, “The Congress looks at things with a jaundiced eye. Everything looks yellow to a jaundiced eye. The Congress’s role in Jammu and Kashmir has been the worse than any other government. They should not force us to open our mouths.”

The Apni Party chief expressed concern about children being picked up in the valley and put behind bars.

“Youngsters are being linked to terrorism and detained. This happens at the Simbal camp in Jammu as well,” he said.

Regarding the slapping of UAPA charges on the students arrested for cheering Australia’s World Cup victory, Bukhari said they made a mistake and should not have done so. “But they are children. Such a punishment was not advisable as children do make mistakes,” he said.

Bukhari highlighted that recognising Punjabi as one of the official languages in Jammu and Kashmir is on top of his party’s agenda.

“The language is spoken by people from all communities in most regions of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said while speaking at a programme organised by his party at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu.

Prominent Sikh social activist Inderpal Singh, along with his supporters Surinder Singh, Ranjit Singh, Bila Pardan, Paramjit Singh, Bachan Kumar, Ajit Singh and others, joined the Apni Party at the programme.