Srinagar, Jan 2 (UNI) Hours after Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah advised his Member Parliament Ruhullah Mehdi to lead protests during the upcoming budget session of Parliament over the Statehood restoration, the National Conference leader said that the restoration of Article 370 and the dignity it represented for JK must remain the primary focus.
In a long post on X, Mehdi said that after 2019 when J&K Special status was scrapped- his 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 Article 370 and the dignity it embodies for the people of Jammu & Kashmir,” the NC MP said.
Earlier the day, Omar Abdullah during a media interaction had said that the party MP Mehdi, who recently led a protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence over the reservation issue, should hold a protest in the upcoming Parliament session, along with other parties to demand the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
Mehdi expressed his readiness to participate but stressed the importance of prioritizing the fight for Special Status.
“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,” Mehdi suggested.
However, he cautioned against losing sight of the broader struggle.
“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,” he said.
“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 honour, 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.”
