Naveed Ul Haq
Srinagar, Jan 2: Just a few hours after Chief Minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Thursday exuded hope that his party Member Parliament Aga Ruhullah would stage a protest to seek restoration of J&K statehood outside the Parliament in New Delhi, Ruhullah said that his fight is for getting Article 370 back and not mere restoration of statehood.
Omar while addressing a news conference here referred to a recent protest led by the MP outside his residence over reservation issues. “It is good that MP Aga Ruhullah protested. I now hope he will lead a similar protest outside Parliament for the restoration of J&K’s statehood.”
Responding to the Chief Minister’s assertion, MP Ruhullah, according to the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO), wrote on X (formerly twitter): “After 2019, my political stance has been crystal clear. At one of my earliest public gatherings in Budgam and then at other gatherings throughout Kashmir and also in my interviews post-abrogation, I told my people that our fight must be for the restoration of 370 and the dignity it embodies for the people of Jammu & Kashmir.”
Referring to Omar Abdullah’s suggestion, Ruhullah further wrote: “I’ve been informed about an urge and desire to protest for statehood in Delhi. I am ready to participate in such a protest, and invite those prioritizing statehood to organize it. I will also try to organise support from at least more than 100 Hon’ble MPs. I believe for them there is no better time than January to organize it, when India’s Constitution—the very document that enshrined our special status—was adopted.”
Terming abrogation of Article 370 as a calculated act of humiliation, Ruhullah wrote: “At the same time I ought to remind that the abrogation of Article 370 was a calculated act of humiliation, and a deep wound deliberately inflicted upon us. The subsequent demotion to a Union Territory was a further attempt to impress upon us the indignity of the abrogation.”
“The abrogation was a political statement, a declaration that our sacrifices mean nothing, and that our future is theirs to dictate. Given this betrayal, this calculated attempt to break our spirit and subjugate our will, I cannot, in good conscience, sidestep from the fight for our special status and settle for the hollow promise of mere statehood. Shouldn’t our voices first rise for our honor, our identity, and the autonomy we have long been denied? I think they should, and I will keep raising mine, louder each time. The Tree Remembers,” he wrote on X.
Pertinently, NC Parliamentarian, Aga Ruhullah had stirred a “Hornet’s Nest” last month when he sat on a protest against the reservation policy outside Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar. Ruhullah was joined by the PDP leaders, Waheed Para, Iltija Mufti and leaders of a few other opposition parties.
National Conference MLA, Salman Sagar had reacted sharply to Ruhullah’s protest and had accused him of “sitting with the enemies” of the NC.
Soon after Ruhullah’s protest, most of the NC MLAs from Srinagar had skipped the DISHA meeting chaired by the Member Parliament to express their “dismay” over his protest.
However, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Thursday acknowledged that the MP’s protest was conducted under the democratic framework upheld by his government.
“Earlier, protests were considered illegal. We respect democratic rights,” Omar told reporters.
