The Apni Party senior vice president Ghulam Hassan Mir on Wednesday accused the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of pushing the Kashmiri youth towards terrorism to fulfil their political ambitions in Jammu and Kashmir.

Seeking an end to the gun-culture and making a plea to bring the younger generation towards the bright future, Mir said that the Apni Party has committed that it favours general amnesty for the detained youth so that they can return to their normal life.

Mir was addressing an election rally in favour of the party candidate for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, Zafar Iqbal Manhas at Mendhar along the Line of Control (LOC) in the Poonch district of the Jammu division.

Lauding the people for showing enthusiasm and faith in the party candidate, Mir said that the people should come forward and vote in favour of Manhas, who is a local candidate.

He said that the party has committed to implement welfare schemes for the people of Jammu as well as Kashmir, i.e., 500 units of free electricity in Jammu region during summer season, and 300 units of free electricity during winter season.

The party would enhance the widow and old age pension up to Rs 5000 from the existing Rs 1000. Four cooking gas cylinders will be provided to each family per year under the Ujjwala Scheme, and the enhancement of marriage assistance scheme up to Rs 1 lakh for the girls from economically weaker sections.

He raised questions that the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have failed to bring out their roadmap for development and welfare of the people.

He also questioned the intention of Dr Farooq Abdullah for raising an inflammatory slogan in Kashmir yesterday, that shows they have become demoralized in these elections and want the youth to again adopt the gun-culture.

“Terrorism got wings in Jammu and Kashmir because of the policies of these parties although they themselves kept close relations with Delhi. On the other hand, the same parties continued to create a wedge between the people and the Government of India for their political ambitions,” he alleged, while asking the youth to come forward and vote to support the Apni Party candidate Manhas.

Mir said that the NC and the PDP showed the path of jails and graveyards to the youths of J&K for decades. However, the Apni Party opposed such policies and believed that the youth should follow the path of development for their prosperous future.