Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday assured the delegation of newly formed Apni Party leaders that that the remaining political prisoners in Jammu & Kashmir would be released “very soon”. Talking to media after the meeting, Apni Party’s president Altaf Bukhari said that the Home Minister had also assured a detailed development packages for the State. The 24-member delegation also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
“Yes, we did discuss about the detention of remaining political leaders and others, and the Home Minister said it is a process and we will be releasing them very soon,” Bukhari said. Many political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, were detained by the Government after the abrogation of special status of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir on August 5.
According to a Home Ministry statement, Shah allayed the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions and said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.
Shah also assured the delegation of restoration of Jammu & Kashmir’s statehood at an “early opportunity” and no change in the demography of the region.
“Shah after engaging with the delegation on about 40 odd issues raised by them emphasised that there is no intention of the Government for demographic change in the region and all such talks have no basis at all. He said that the Government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu & Kashmir at an early opportunity,” said the statement issued by the Home Ministry.
The Home Minister assured the delegation that Jammu & Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other States in the country and that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation.
On the issue of reservation, the Home Minister said that a commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities. On the issues concerning JK Bank, he assured the delegation of personal intervention in the matter.