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| J K Phari Forum becomes casuality of infighting | | Who is chairman? Bukhari or Khan | |
SHAFIQ MIR
Rajouri,January 5
The Jammu and Kashmir Phari Cultural and Welfare Forum, an organisation struggling for decades to get enrolled the Phari speaking community of the state in the list of schedule tribe communities of the country is at present in the crisis of leadership. The decade long organisation has turned divided and both the factions are claiming to be the real one . One faction is led by former minister Syed Mushtaq Hussain Bukhari while the other faction is adamant to see one Sharafat Ali Khan of Baranmullah as their chairman.
The divided house of Jammu Kashmir Phari Cultural and Welfare Forum , came in to light last week when majority of the Phari leaders belonging to Poonch and Rajouri border region in particular gathered at Jammu and announced former Surankote MLA and erstwhile minister Mushtaq Hussain Bukhari as the new chairman of the forum . Interestingly, on the eve of this important decision, former Chairman Sharafat Ali Khan and his followers opted to stay away and on the very next day the old group started abusing the new one publicly through media. In a lates statement issued by General Secretary of Khan faction , Rasheed Ahmed Masoodi said that the real Chairman of the forum was Sharafat Ali Khan not Mushtaq Bukhari of Surankote . Not only this, Masoodi said that some people were bent to sabotage the Phari cause and they wouldn’t be allowed to do so . In this connection, when Mushtaq Hussain Bukhari was contacted he refused to comment over the issue saying that he doesn’t want to indulge in the controversy . Keeping in view the numbers and the political wieghtage of both the forums , Bukhari group seems heavy over the Khan group as most of the front runner politicians of the community including former minister Mirza Abdul Rasheed, MLC, Mohammad Rasheed Qureshi , MLC ,Ravinder Sharma are with Bukhari group . While the Sharafat Khan group seems politically orphan as none of the known Phari politician has supported him so far . However, an other Phari community leader Mohammad Shafi Uri who has good image among the intellectual class of the community has maintained equal distance from both the groups .
It is pertinent to mention here that the Phari card has much influence in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri and it is always played by the community politicians during the election season . Even in the 2002 assembly elections an independent member namely Th. Puran Singh had made his entry to the legislative assembly by playing this card . Observers is of the opinion that most of the Pahari leaders have been playing this card for decades to reach at the chair of power . The card became much selling since 1990 when the central govt. granted Gujjars of the state schedule tribe status . |
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