Seeking general amnesty for the Kashmiri youth detained in cases related to terrorism, Apni Party candidate for south Kashmir’s Anantnag Lok Sabha seat Zafar Iqbal Manhas has demanded their release to enable them to join the mainstream in J&K.

Manhas was addressing a series of election rallies in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri where Pakistan is trying hard to revive terrorism by repeatedly targeting men of the Indian Army.

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He opposed registration of FIRs against the “innocent youth” and held the National Conference (NC), PDP and Congress equally responsible for the sufferings of the people.

“The youth booked in different cases across the region and other areas of Kashmir should be given general amnesty so that they can be brought back to mainstream life,” he asserted.

Manhas had to do a bit of explaining to clear the common belief that the Apni Party was being backed by the BJP. He said that it was the NC that became an alliance partner of the BJP at the Centre for the first time from J&K. Later, the PDP followed the footsteps when it formed a coalition government in J&K with the BJP.

Asking the people to remain vigilant from the divisive forces, he asked them to come forward and elect a candidate who is contesting on merits.

Criticising the traditional parties for deliberate neglect of the Pir-Panjal region for decades, Manhas said that he would strongly advocate for a Hill Development Council for Rajouri and Poonch districts with separate allocation of funds for overall development of the region to overcome the backwardness.

Manhas is pitted against the PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and the NC candidate Mian Altaf and others in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency for which polling was earlier scheduled to be held on 7 May but have now been postponed to 25 May.

Manhas held a roadshow in the Poonch town where he said that he would fight for the rights of the people of the region who were discriminated against for decades by the NC, PDP and Congress. He accused these parties of being responsible for the backwardness of the region.

He said that these parties were responsible for the troubled period in the region because they played divisive politics to remain in power.

Being a border region, he said that Rajouri and Poonch districts have faced worst kind of human catastrophic due to hostile situation on the Line of Control (LoC), unprovoked ceasefire violations, increasing drug addiction menace, underdevelopment, inadequate specialised staff in educational and health sector, improper infrastructure, and issues of basic amenities remain unresolved.