Truth is alien to NC: Altaf Bukhari

SRINAGAR, June 10(KMW): Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and Minister for Public Works, Floriculture and Gardens & Parks Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today said that he does not need any political sermons from National Conference which remained totally indifferent and apathetic towards miseries and sufferings of the flood victims of Kashmir.

Reacting to Mr. Nasir Aslam Wani’s “match fixing” remarks, Bukhari said that National Conference regimes have always trivialized pain and woes of the people of Kashmir and unfortunately its leadership is yet to learn lessons from the results of its decades old politics of deceit and treachery. Instead of making insensitive remarks, Bukhari said National Conference should have been doing some honest soul searching about how its government defectively responded to the September deluge.
“Has Mr. Nasir Aslam Wani forgotten that how NC led government did not bother even to sound out a warning or evacuate people when the meteorological forecasts had predicted a long spell of monsoon rains? Let Mr. Nasir Aslam Wani also recall that when the floods struck, how NC government went into a limbo except for evacuating its ministers and their families first and shifting them to safe places in Jammu and Delhi.”
Bukhari said that before casting aspersions on PDP’s honest and sincere efforts to rehabilitate flood victims in Kashmir, let Mr. Nasir Aslam Wani be reminded how NC led government left the hapless people of Srinagar in the lap of devastating deluge by simply saying that it had no “response designed for waters of this level”.
He said that speaking truth in power may be one of the most difficult challenges for National Conference as truth has been always alien this this party and its leadership, but power and position can never debar him from rising up to the occasion and giving a voice to the victims of devastating deluge who lost everything in September floods last year.
“It is not something new for NC to be insensitive to the sufferings of people especially those who were shattered by the floods. It is the same party which has a history of bartering economic interests and political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in lieu of power,” Bukhari said adding that unlike NC, the PDP does not believe in deceptive politics and will always rise up to the occasion and speak bluntly in the interest of people of the State.
The Minister for Public Works observed that NC continued to thrive on uncertainty and chaotic atmosphere and never ever tried to give a serious thought to facilitate resolution of socio-political and economic issues facing the people of the state.
Bukhari said that times have changed and people of the State are enough mature to judge political gimmicks of National Conference (NC) and they are no more ready to accept its political deceit and apathetic approach. “Even if, for a moment, it is presumed that my and Mr. Nirmal Ji remarks were “fixed statements”, which they were not, doesn’t it behove National Conference leadership to support the demand for justified compensation for flood victims, if it claims to be serious for their rehabilitation?”
Bukhari said that he belongs to a party (PDP) which unlike NC does not believe in fickle and intrigue-driven politics but has been there to add sincerity of the purpose and serve the people of the state to the best of its abilities.
He said that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed led government is committed to rehabilitate the flood-affected people of the state and the government will ensure that all flood victims receive genuine compensation against the losses suffered by them last year. Bukhari reiterated that besides working for rehabilitation of flood victims, the government is pursuing a comprehensive flood management plan with the Central government to initiate permanent protection measures from impending threat of floods.