Ruhullah faces barbs from NC party colleague on staging protest outside CM’s residence

National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi leads a protest to support the demand for rationalisation of the reservation policy in J&K, near J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024
| Photo Credit: PTI

National Conference (NC) MP Aga Syed Ruhullah was on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) criticised by his party colleague, Salman Sagar, for joining a protest along with Opposition parties over the current reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, warned against tampering with the policy, which reserves up to 70% seats for different marginalised communities, and only 30% for aspirants in the Open Merit category.

A day after Mr. Ruhullah sat outside the Chief Minister’s residence in Srinagar with protesting students, Mr. Sagar said it was “an individual action rather than the party’s policy”. “It (the protest) was not an NC initiative and does not represent the party’s stance. NC’s protests are only organised under the instructions of top leaders like Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah,” the MLA from the Hazratbal Assembly constituency said.

Mr. Sagar accused Mr. Ruhullah of joining the party’s adversaries and thus “inadvertently strengthening the position of rival political groups like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)“. “It was a gathering of our enemies and, unfortunately, one of our MPs allowed them a stage to exploit the situation,” Mr. Sagar said.

He said the protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence had “only created unnecessary drama”. “We won’t allow political point-scoring on this issue. Such actions could damage the party’s credibility. Ruhullah sahib is a big man with a significant mandate, having been an MLA and MP multiple times, but he is connected to the party and cannot be bigger than the party. No MLA, Minister, or even the Chief Minister is bigger than the party,” Mr. Sagar said.

In a veiled retort, Mr. Ruhullah took to social media platform X. He referred to the ‘House Negro and field Negro’ speech of the late African American human rights activist Malcom X to make a statement on the issue. “And today, you still have house Negroes and field Negroes. I’m a field Negro,” Mr. Ruhullah said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, the Congress party, an ally of the NC, also criticised Mr. Ruhullah for joining the protesters. “It has become a fashion now to get the camera’s attention. Otherwise, a responsible MP could have behaved seriously,” senior Congress leader G.A. Mir said.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti criticised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for failing to address the reservation issue. “Open merit students are losing opportunities as reservation policies sideline hard work and capability. CM Abdullah must act decisively and ensure fair treatment for all. Relying on court decisions alone is not enough. The government must rationalise quotas and restore hope for deserving students who feel abandoned and ignored,” Ms. Mufti said.

She said the promise of six months’ time “is too much”. “Recruitments of lecturers, and sub-inspectors etc. are scheduled. I sincerely request that Mr. Abdullah, who has the backing of 50 MLAs and three MPs, to help students like the PDP government did in 2018 by bringing SRO (special order) 49, which put 75% seats for Open Merit aspirants,” Ms. Mufti added.

In Jammu, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh warned against tampering with the current reservation policy. “The country is run according to the Constitution and nobody will be allowed to fiddle with the rights of the Dalits, Gujjars, Paharis and other underprivileged classes of society. In the NC government, members of the Valmiki Samaj could not get a government job and the BJP gave the constitutional right of reservations to these people. NC is working on politics of revenge,” Mr. Chugh said.