Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, Sep 18: The ruling National Conference (NC) leaders including Minister Sakeena Itoo and Member of Parliament (MP) from Srinagar Lok Sabha Constituency, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, entered into a verbal brawl on Thursday by castigating and reminding each other about their duties.
Sakeena Itoo took a jibe at Member of Parliament and her party leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi for criticizing the government over the prolonged closure of the National Highway, stating that instead of criticising the government, he should speak about the core issues of Jammu and Kashmir in the Parliament.
Speaking to reporters, Minister Itoo said that Aga Ruhullah himself contested from the NC ticket and has been elected by the people to speak for them in the Parliament.
“Now he is pointing fingers at us. He should instead raise people’s issues in the Parliament that he deems are crucial and merit concern,” she said.
She added that Aga Ruhullah should fulfil his duties as a parliamentarian and not criticise the NC-led government here.
Pertinently, the NC patron, Dr Farooq Abdullah had also reacted to Aga Ruhullah’s statement yesterday, stating that the ongoing crisis facing fruit growers due to repeated highway closures is the outcome of the situation that is not man-made but the result of natural calamities.
Moreover, the Member of Parliament later took to X, formerly twitter and shared his work in the Parliament.
He said that those who have chosen servility cannot comprehend the role of those who continue to challenge oppression.
In a post on X, the MP wrote, “This Office understands that those who have bent their back in obedience can’t look up to see the work of those fighting oppression. Since their servility may not allow them to follow Parliament or read official communications, we will gladly courier a compilation of speeches, interventions and updates to their desks.”
He also listed several issues he has raised on the floor of Parliament, saying his record is publicly available. He said that the matters highlighted by him include the weakening of Kashmir’s apple and horticulture sector, repeated illegal detentions, encroachments on Waqf properties and concerns over road, railway and health infrastructure.
He pointed out that he had secured CT scan facilities for district hospitals and disbursed more than five crore rupees under the MPLADS fund.
The MP also reminded that he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to press for the release of detainees and had separately taken up highway expansion and road development with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. He said his efforts ensured that the extension of the Expressway from its existing point to Sonmarg via Srinagar was agreed upon.
In addition, the MP mentioned facilitating hundreds of patients suffering from cancer and other life-threatening diseases by granting them relief from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). “All of this is available for public viewing on Lok Sabha TV and through RTI,” Ruhullah wrote.
“As for the unsolicited advice to ‘talk’, your obedience to oppressor may have earned you comfort, but it left us Kashmiris alone in the far harder task of challenging that very power,” he wrote.
