In a major jolt to the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, several key leaders have tendered their resignations to the party in support of former minister Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, the Pahari leader of JK National Conference who announced his exit from the party a few days back.
In a brief resignation send to NC President Farooq Abdullah, he said that Abdullah’s constant insistence for foregoing the Pahari cause has made him take this decision. This happened after he had a heated argument with the NC President. Meanwhile, in a series of resignations, several sarpanches, naib sarpanches, and panches from the Surankote constituency, along with JKYNC Provincial Secretary and JKYNC District President, Poonch also resigned from JKNC in line with the Pahari cause.
These leaders while speaking to the media announced their resignation and said that they have done this for supporting Mushtaq Bukhari.
Speaking exclusively to Republic, the former NC leader alleged that the former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah did injustice with the Paharis and thus he is fighting for their rights. “Any party runs with a motive and everyone joins politics with a motive. After I saw some incidents, I thought we should do something for the Paharis. However, if they would have given the ST status, I wouldn’t have turned to Delhi. They ignored us for the Gurjars.”
Further alleging that Abdullah did injustice with the Paharis, he said, “I will expose anti-Pahari stand of NC and I don’t want any anti-Pahari group to be in power in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Earlier, Bukhari, a two-time MLA from Poonch’s Surankote also spoke to PTI and asserted that he will not hesitate to support any party which will help the community for achieving its demand for a Scheduled Tribe status. “The remarks did not go well with the National Conference leadership and I was asked for an explanation,” Bukhari added.