NC MP Ruhullah revolts against CM Omar Abdullah?

NC MP Ruhullah turning rebel?

On December 23, an extraordinary political development took place in Srinagar. That day, National Conference (NC) Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar and former minister and Shia cleric, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, along with members of the newly-founded Open Merit Students Association (OPSA), held a strong protest outside the Gupkar residence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The demonstration was against the reservation policy. Ruhullah Mehdi organized a demonstration despite Omar Abdullah having already constituted a three-member cabinet sub-committee to look into the reservation policy/ “understand the emotions surrounding the reservation issue.”

The protestors, who were carrying placards with slogans such as “Justice for Open Merit” and “Eradicate Draconian Rule 17” (of reservation policy), demanded that all the changes made in the reservation rules after the reading down of Article 370 or abrogation of J&K’s special status be declared null and void, and open merit (general category) reservations must be to the tune of 57 percent as before. “Rationalisation of the reservation policy” was the upshot of their whole formulation.

Under the amended reservation rules, the Scheduled Tribes (ST) have been getting 20 percent reservations, Socially Backward Castes (SBC) 8 percent, people living near the Line of Actual Control (ALC,) and the Physically Challenged (PHC) 4 percent, children of defence personnel 3 percent, children of police personnel 1 percent and achievers in sports 2 percent in government jobs and technical and professional institutions and universities.

The most striking aspect of the whole situation was that Ruhullah Mehdi had also urged all, without any exception, to join the protest [1]. His appeal/ call produced the desired result. Ilitija Mufti, daughter of the wounded Mehbooba Mufti, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief; youth wing president of PDP and MLA, Waheed Para, and their supporters joined the protest in large numbers. The in-Tihar jail Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief and Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid’s brother and MLA, Sheikh Khursheed, and their supporters were also there in strength during the demonstration. Former Srinagar Mayor and a bitter critic of Omar Abdullah, Junaid Mattoo, and his supporters also took part in the demonstration. Besides them, All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief and cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who so far had focused primarily on the resolution of the so-called Kashmir issue, also extended his support for the protesters, saying that “the issue of reservations should be addressed with justice and fairness” and that “the current policy undermines the interests of the general/open merit category.”[2]

The developments that unfolded during the protest and speeches made by Ruhullah Mehdi and others left the already under-pressure Omar Abdullah with no other option but to meet five members of the OMSA. He assured the delegation that the cabinet sub-committee formed to review the reservation policy in J&K will submit its report within six months. “The beauty of democracy is the right to be heard and dialogue in a spirit of mutual cooperation. I have made certain requests and given assurances to the representatives of the OMSA. This channel of communication will remain open without intermediaries” (read Ruhullah Mehdi and ilk.)[3]

During the address to the protestors, Ruhullah Mehdi, who earlier had raised the reservation issue in the Lok Sabha, had asked the Omar Abdullah government to either “adjust the reservation policy in accordance with the population proportions of reserved categories or implement the Supreme Court’s 50 percent cap on reservations. “I made a commitment to the students that I would stand with them, and today we are here to demand justice. I am with them and will support them in taking this to its logical conclusion,” he had said.

For Mehbooba Mufti, who was defeated twice by the NC in the 2019 and 2024 general elections and whose PDP was not accommodated by the I.N.D.I. Alliance during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections at the best of none other than Omar Abdullah, it was an Allah-sent opportunity to strike and regain some ground she and her party had lost in the 2024 electoral exercises due to the PDP’s association with the BJP between March 2015 and June 2018. She denounced the Omar Abdullah government for setting a six-month time frame to resolve the reservation issue, accusing the NC of evading responsibility and merely waiting for a court decision. “You have 3 MPs, 50 MLAs, and yet you say, wait for six months…The government’s strategy is based on the hope that the court would issue a decision within six months, thereby absolving them of any responsibility. They think that the court decision will come in six months, so they do not have to do anything. If the court is expected to solve this issue, what is the government supposed to do…” she, among other things, said.[4]

Significantly, the BJP, the main Opposition in J&K, took a different stand. In fact, BJP general secretary and in charge of the party’s J&K affairs Tarun Chugh on December 24 accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of trying to deprive the underprivileged classes of their rights in the name of rationalisation of reservation policy. Taking on Omar Abdullah, he, among other things, said: “Omar Abdullah Ji 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 the society. I.N.D.I.A bloc and the NC have deprived the underprivileged classes of their rights and they are again working on conspiracies to do the same. 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.”[5]

It was a foregone conclusion that the NC as a party would take on Ruhullah Mehdi and it did happen. Actually, the statement of Omar Abdullah that “I have made certain requests and given assurances to the representatives of the OMSA” and “this channel of communication will remain open without intermediaries” had given a clear hint that the NC would retaliate against Ruhullah Mehdi.

Stung by the activities of Ruhullah Mehdi, the NC on December 24 held a press conference at its Srinagar headquarters and accused Ruhullah Mehdi of hurting the party’s interests by providing a platform to its “enemies” by joining a protest against reservation policy and said that no born-NC leader was in the gathering. “It was a gathering of our adversaries, of our enemies. Unfortunately, one of our MPs was present there, giving them an opportunity to exploit the situation…Such actions inadvertently strengthen the position of political rivals like the PDP…What he (Ruhullah Mehdi) did was wrong. In my opinion, it should not have happened. He provided a platform to the enemies of the NC,” Salman Sagar, NC MLA from Hazratbal, Srinagar, inter-alia, said while denouncing Ruhullah Mehdi.[6]

Salman Sagar’s blistering attack provoked Ruhullah Mehdi to the extent that the same day he ignited a political storm by quoting Malcolm X’s analogy of the “House Negro and Field Negro” on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). To be more precise, the NC MP aligned himself with the “field Negro,” Malcolm X’s metaphor for those resisting oppression, and drew a clear line between himself and what he implied were “house Negroes” — a term associated with those complicit in maintaining oppressive systems.[7]

On January 2, 2025, Ruhullah Mehdi again pricked Omar Abdullah. He said that the “fight for the restoration of Article 370 and the dignity it embodies for the people of J&K must take precedence over settling for the hollow promise of mere statehood.[8]” He made these comments shortly after Omar Abdullah held his first press conference at the Kashmir International Conference Centre (KICC), Srinagar, after assuming the office of Chief Minister of J&K Union Territory on October 16, 2024. During his address, Omar Abdullah termed the restoration of statehood as the “key issue and biggest challenge for his government.”

And. On January 8, Ruhullah Mehdi went several steps further and told Karan Thapar of The Wire that Omar Abdullah was virtually a New Delhi representative in Kashmir. During his interview with Karan Thapar, he, among other things, said: “Chief Minister Omar Abdullah risks being seen as ‘New Delhi’s representative’ unless he leads the struggle for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood to J&K…The NC has received a different mandate this time compared to the past. It comes after the abrogation of Article 370. Today, the assembly is constituted with this mandate. The people of J&K have taken the democratic route once again, so this mandate is more than just normal. It is a political message and political disapproval of the decisions taken after August 05, 2019…I believe this mandate carries a huge responsibility, and one has to be very careful in addressing the aspirations of the people. Mr. Omar Abdullah has to be extremely cautious and careful in handling this mandate…Kashmiris are not just disappointed but also worried about Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. ‘Mr. Omar Abdullah should not distance himself from the people of J&K or from the mandate that the NC secured in October 2024…The Chief Minister must be ‘resilient’; he must ‘express the dissent of the people’; he must lead their ‘rebellion’ in demanding their right to statehood and the return of Article 370…The people of J&K are ‘more committed than ever’ to the restoration of Article 370…Omar Abdullah must stay connected with the people’s aspirations. If he distances himself from their expectations, he risks being seen as a representative of Delhi rather than the leader of J&K…Farooq Abdullah, not Omar Abdullah, is a true Kashmiri nationalist…”[9]

The same day, Minister for Health & Medical Education, Social Welfare, and Education, Sakina Itoo, denounced Ruhullah Mehdi and termed the December 23 demonstration outside the residence of Omar Abdullah a “cheap publicity stunt”. “Does Omar Abdullah have a magic wand that he will wave around and your job will be done? For cheap publicity, you get yourself clicked by the media and then claim that you are trying to pressure the government…What pressure will you put on the government? The government is not under anyone’s pressure; we will do the work that is in our hands without any pressure,” she said while tearing into Ruhullah Mehdi on January 8.[10]

And a day later (Jan 9), NC president and Omar Abdullah’s father, Farooq Abdullah said: “Let him (Ruhullah Mehdi) say what he thinks. But Omar Abdullah is the people’s Chief Minister. He is not working on anyone’s directives. Do you want us should fight with the Centre.” “We don’t want confrontation with the Centre. If we start fighting, how can we resolve people’s issues? We are not with the BJP, but we have to work with the Central government (in this case the BJP-led government) for the development of J&K. If we start fighting with Centre, then how can we build up schools and hospitals,” he asked[11]. “We don’t want to fight New Delhi. We want to work together with Delhi to resolve J&K’s problems. We don’t want to engage in battles. Those who want to fight can do so,” he also said.[12]

What does all this suggest? It obviously suggests that there is no love lost between Ruhullah Mehdi and Omar Abdullah. It also suggests that both Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah are working as per a strategy devised to hoodwink and mislead the Narendra Modi government to achieve full state status so that they could play mischief like they used to play before August 2019 to hurt the nation, and destroy Jammu and Ladakh and create a Kashmir-like situation in Jammu province which left the Kashmiri Hindus, the Jammu Dogras and thousands of Punjabis to quit the Valley in January 1990.

However, what happened between December 23, 2024, and January 9, 202,5 constitutes one part of the story. The other part of the story is the view of the concerned citizens in Jammu on what happened during all these days. , their view is: that Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Ruhullah Mehdi are working in tandem; Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah are striving hard to motivate the Narendra Modi government to concede their statehood demand by telling it that there are elements within and outside the NC who are radical and who are all out to create a serious situation in the Valley. And, they make their point by referring to the “special status” resolution which was adopted by the Omar Abdullah government on November 6, 2024, in a surreptitious manner. What they say and believe in just can’t be ignored given the track record of the pro-greater autonomy and fundamentally communal NC. The Narendra Modi government would do well to consider the view of the concerned citizens of Jammu.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

References:

[1] With CM Omar’s own MP calling for protest outside his residence, J-K reservation policy issue heats up – Dec 23, 2024, Indian Express

[2] Mufti, Mirwaiz oppose quota policy, ask CM to find way out – Dec 25, 2024, The Tribune

[3] CM assures review of reservation policy within 6 months – Dec 24, 2024, Daily Excelsior

[4] Mufti slams Govt over 6-month delay in reservation issue – Dec 25, 2024, Daily Excelsior

[5] Don’t Fiddle With Rights Of Dalits, Gujjars, Paharis: BJP Leader To J&K CM On Anti-Reservation Protest – Dec 24, 2024, Daily Excelsior

[6] Ruhullah provided platform to NC’s enemies: Sagar – Dec 25, 2024, Daily Excelsior

[7] Ruhullah hits back at critics with ‘House Negro and Field Negro’ metaphor – Dec 24, 2024, Greater Kashmir

[8] Ruhullah stresses fight for restoration of Art 370 over statehood – Jan 3, 2024, Daily Excelsior

[9] Ruhullah Mehdi’s interview with Karan Thapar – Jan 8, 2024, The Wire

[10] Aga Ruhullah’s protest outside CM’s residence a ‘cheap publicity stunt’: Sakina Itoo – Jan 8, 2025, Greater Kashmir

[11] J&K govt can’t fight with Centre; Omar is people’s CM: Farooq Abdullah responds to Aga Ruhullah – Jan 9, 2025, Greater Kashmir

[12] Want to work with Delhi to resolve JK problems; INDIA bloc permanent: Farooq – Jan 9, 2025, Hindustan Times

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